Outlook on climate change adaptation in the Tropical Andes mountains

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Lake Poopó is located in the Altiplano mountains
of Bolivia, at approximately 3,700 m altitude. It
was formerly the second-largest lake in Bolivia
after Lake Titicaca. The lake reached its peak
in 1986 with an area of 3,500 km 2 (Quinn and
Woodward, 2015). The area of the lake has
always fluctuated and is sensitive to even small
changes in precipitation and river inflow (inflow
is mainly provided through the Rio Desaguadero,
which itself flows from Lake Titicaca) (Zola and
Bengtsson, 2006). In 1996, the lake completely
disappeared and reverted to a salt flat status, and
it took several years before water reappeared.
However, by January 2016 water had almost
completely disappeared apart from a fewmarshes.
The main reason for its disappearance is the
strong drought caused by El Niño, but other
contributing factors include the diversion of the
lake’s resources for water and agriculture.
Satellite images courtesy of NASA Earth Observatory,
view.php?id=87363
Lake Poopó – officially declared
“evaporated” in December 2015
Equator
Sucre
Lima
Quito
Bogota
Paramaribo
Caracas
Castries
Roseau
La Paz
Water stress in the Tropical Andes countries
Sources:WRI Aqueduct; FAO AQUASTAT; NASA GLDAS-2
GUYANA
BRAZIL
PERU
BOLIVIA
ECUADOR
COLOMBIA
VENEZUELA
Baseline water stress measures total annual water withdrawals (municipal, industrial, and
agricultural) expressed as a percentage of the total annual available freshwater and
groundwater. Higher values indicate more competition among users.
Seasonal variability measures variation in water supply between months of the year.
Water stress
Annual average
Percent of water withdrawal
on water availability
Less than 10
10 to 20
20 to 40
40 to 80
More than 80
Arid land (low water use)
High seasonal variability
1 10 50 135
Dams
Capacity, billion cubic metres