18-12, Nishiochiai 2-chome,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161-8575, Japan
Phone: +81-3-5906-0211
FAX: +81-3-5906-0112

Water Resource Development

BACKGROUND & PURPOSE OF PROJECT

The Bogotá metropolitan area (consisting of the Bogotá Capital District and its 10 surrounding cities) is the center of Columbia's political and economical activities and holds a population of 7.6 million people (2005), which represents 20% of population of Columbia. The rate of population growth in the area from 1994 to 2005 was 2.9%, a figure that significantly exceeds the national average of 2.0% due to several reasons such as the inflow of the domestic refugees.
The Water and Sewerage Company of Bogotá Acueducto is responsible for the water supply for the Bogotá metropolitan area and the water supply district is specified as the "Bogotá Urban District" in accordance with the land development program for the Bogotá capital district. Due to the expansion of urban areas, Bogotá Acueducto is also supplying water to the 10 cities surrounding the capital district. Acueducto has a rather high percentage of non-revenue water in its water supply business (36%), however, it fulfills basic requirements in terms of the gap of supply and demand, water quality, water supply rate and the condition of its business operations for the most part.
In spite of this, Acueducto has work to do regarding the preparation of water supplies in the case of emergency. Natural disasters such as earthquakes and landslides occur within the Bogotá metropolitan area. Under these circumstances, Acueducto has adopted emergency countermeasures mainly for earthquakes. It is now considering taking action with relation to hardware such as the quakeproofing of water tanks and in relation to software such as the preparation of manuals and the enhancement of cooperation with other related authorities. There is also the necessity to secure groundwater resources as a water supply source in case the aqueduct network malfunctions due to a natural disaster. To resolve these problems, the Japanese government was requested to conduct this study.

CHARACTERISTICS, CONCEPT, STANCE & SKILLS OF PROJECT

Acueducto's water supply system has the following short- and mid-term issues from the point of view of comprehensive water resource management:
(1) The hills to the south and the east of Bogotá city are littered with slum housing. To supply water to these high elevation zones, a costly, large-scale pumping system is required. On the other hand, the revenue to be gained from supplying water to these poverty-stricken districts is low and this low profit margin becomes a burden to Acueducto's business.
(2) The existing water supply system relies on distant water resources; therefore there is a danger that the supply of water may be stopped in the case of a natural disaster such as an earthquake.
(3) In recent years, the water quality of Bogotá River has rapidly deteriorated, leading to a growing concern regarding the quality of treated water from the Tibitok purification plant, which draws water from the Bogotá River.
As a solution to the problems mentioned above, it was found that the development and use of the groundwater resources in the hills to the east and the south of Bogotá city would provide an effective water supply. Based on this policy, we defined a water supply plan that uses groundwater (Plan for Utilization of Groundwater Resources in the Bogotá Capital District).

EFFECT OF PROJECT

(1) A master plan for the water supply (Plan for Utilization of Groundwater Resource in Bogotá Capital District) will be formulated with target year of 2020. The following plan will be defined within the master plan:
- Plan to secure a stable water supply in the case of emergency such as natural disasters using groundwater resources.
(2) A feasibility study will be carried out in relation to the high priority project as specified in the master plan.