The war for water between Mendoza and La Pampa added a new chapter this Tuesday, after Irrigation denounced that the neighboring province bottles the vital liquid that arrives through the Punta del Agua-Santa Isabel aqueduct and sells it in Río Negro and Neuquén.
This is the backlash to the lawsuit that La Pampa presented to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation for Mendoza’s alleged non-compliance with a ruling from 2020, which forces it to deliver 3.2 cubic meters per second of river water Atuel.
Specifically, the superintendent of Irrigation, Sergio Marinelliwith him counselor of the Atuel River, Gustavo Villegasdenounced that a company from La Pampa is selling water from an aqueduct that belongs to the Atuel River basin, which due to an agreement from the early 90s can only supply the inhabitants of the Santa Isabel and Algarrobo departments of the Eagle.
“The Province of Mendoza is committed to delivering the flow of drinking water necessary to satisfy the demand for human use in the towns of Santa Isabel and Algarrobo del Águila in the Province of La Pampa up to a maximum of 6 thousand inhabitants”supports point one of the agreement ratified by the Legislature in 1992.
However, according to the Irrigation complaint, the company “Desierto Pampa” has a plant in Santa Isabel that bottles water from this aqueduct for subsequent marketing in the Pampas town of 25 of May and at points of Neuquen and Black river.
“On social networks they warned that this very high quality water, which was granted through a good neighbor agreement between the parties, is being sold. So there is no lack of water“Marinelli explained. And he added: “We are sharing the resource of goodwill with you. “They live demanding water and when we give it to them, they sell it.”,
Marinelli confirmed that they presented notes to the State Attorney, Fernando Simón; to the Government advisor, Ricardo Canet; and to Governor Alfredo Cornejo himself to evaluate the possibility of denouncing the incident before the Supreme Court for failing to comply with the agreement signed in 1992.
For his part, Villegas assured that he himself verified the sale of this water, since he went to the Pampas town and purchased a drum.
“We went to La Pampa and collected the evidence. We bought drums in Santa Isabel and on 25 de Mayo and they did not ask us for any requirements, so they sell it to anyone. From what we have found out, at least since 2019 they have been marketing this product”expressed the advisor of the Atuel River.
The officials assured that there is no doubt that this water is from this aqueduct, since it is the only source of water that the place has. They also explained that the municipal and provincial authorities of La Pampa should be aware of the irregular situation, taking into account that the bottling plants have permits and authorizations to operate.
On the other hand, they reported that in the packaging process, they carry out chemical modifications in which about 40% of the water transported through the pipe is lost.
“It is a reverse osmosis process, in which the natural minerals contained in the water are removed and new minerals are added. This causes 40% of the total water to be thrown away”Villegas indicated.
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