Dilemmas in water use: How is the water resource distributed in the Colombian Amazon basin?

Abstract

This paper contextualizes the economic environment of the productive sectors that depend on the intensive use of water resources in the Colombian Amazon basin (it is composed of the departments of Amazonas, Caquetá, Guainía, Guaviare, Putumayo, Vaupes, La Bota Caucana and southern Nariño) through the collection and organization of information from official entities and consultations in the region carried out by the Amazon Scientific Research Institute (ASRI). Macroeconomic indicators of the Amazonian departments in each of the different sectors were analyzed considering the added value exposed in the annual average of the Gross Domestic Product (2000–2012 in constant values) and contrasted with the sectoral demand for water and the growth projection, both of the human population and the growth trends of the economic activities. As a relevant result, it was found that the departments with a mining-energy tradition base their economic growth on the intensive use of water (greater pressure on the resource in m3/year). An average annual value of $374.42 million dollars is reported in water use (economic cost for the department of Putumayo alone) for oil extraction, which will increase in the future. This value has not been offset by the department, let alone taken into account in the economic growth indicators. It is concluded that the policy guidelines for water resource management in Colombia should be differentiated by sectors and by departments, considering the economic dynamics in the demand for water use and the heterogeneity of the populations.