15 days have passed since the mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, ordered indefinite rationing of water consumption by zones, and the president announced yesterday that the measure will remain unchanged for now.
Galán pointed out that the restrictions continue without any change, and that although the consumption goal of 15 cubic meters per second has not been achieved, the results have been positive. “We are convinced that with an additional effort we will be able to reach those ideal figures that we have proposed,” said Galán.
He stated that the decision to continue with the measure of water cuts for 24 hours is necessary to avoid more drastic ones. It is encouraging for the residents of the capital that the reservoirs have shown a slight improvement in their levels, as a result of the recent rains and the planned savings.
“We have managed to reduce the city’s consumption on average by 10.7%, and the decrease in the flow that we bring from the Wiesner plant, -which is the one that treats the water from the Chingaza system-, has been 22.8%, it is a significant saving,” the mayor assured.
He explained that, on average, since the beginning of the restriction, that is Since April 11, a consumption of 15.7 cubic meters per second has been recorded, and in general calculations the city has saved a total of 2.47 million cubic meters, which according to the administration’s balance sheet, represents more than what is consumed in all of Bogotá during a day.
“We have saved more or less 10 times the water that the Simón Bolívar park lake has,” indicated the Mayor.
They pointed out that the duration of the restriction of water consumption by areas will depend on the capacity of the Chingaza system to recover, achieving a trend that allows projecting a filling of the reservoirs close to 75% at the end of the year. Currently the level of these reservoirs is 16.13%, the goal for the authorities is to reach 20% this month.
For the manager of the aqueduct, Natasha Avendaño, the balance of water savings is positive. “We see how the evolution between cycle one and cycle two, which we have already consolidated, has been to reduce consumption.”
