Bogotá, Colombia
Focus area
A high Andean river that runs past Bogotá and receives much of the city's wastewater on its way to the Magdalena.
In brief
The Bogotá River rises in the high Andes of Cundinamarca, runs past Colombia's capital and joins the Magdalena River. Its basin includes 47 municipalities of Cundinamarca, from small mountain towns to the capital itself.
A World Bank results brief reports that by 2009 the city of Bogotá discharged all of its wastewater into the Bogotá River, and only 20 percent of it received primary treatment. The same brief describes expansion of the Salitre treatment plant and a planned Canoas plant to treat the remaining wastewater.
In 2014 Colombia's Council of State issued a ruling on the river with 143 orders to territorial entities, environmental authorities and the national government, among others. These are public-sector infrastructure efforts.
Our focus is on modest, supportive roles that Colombian groups would lead: riverbank litter surveys, simple and transparent water-quality monitoring with qualified local specialists, waste prevention, and community cleanups organized with neighborhood and river groups.
Cleanup does not make water safe to drink. Safe drinking-water access is a separate program that is led by qualified local specialists, with appropriate treatment and regular testing.
Fundación Al Verde Vivo, a Bogotá non-profit founded in 1994, says on its website that its early focus was water problems on the Bogotá River. It now restores forest in the upper Bogotá basin and reports a goal of planting 1.5 million trees there.
Fundación Humedales Bogotá, a non-profit founded in 2011, works on the city's wetlands through education, tree planting and citizen science, and has prepared a state-of-knowledge document on the wetlands of the Bogotá River basin. Fundación Alma, a non-profit founded in 1985, works on restoration along the Magdalena, which the Bogotá River joins. Its sources do not tie it to the Bogotá itself, so it appears as a country-level organization.
The next steps are to listen: to speak with Colombian river, wetland and community organizations, find out what monitoring and cleanup already exist along the river, and learn where local teams would welcome extra support.
Organization to exploreWorks on this waterway
A Bogotá non-profit (ONG) founded in 1994. Its website says its early focus was water problems on the Bogotá River, including river expeditions and international river conferences, and that it now restores riparian and high-Andean forest in the upper Bogotá basin, with a goal of planting 1.5 million trees. A BBVA article on a reforestation alliance describes its work in the upper Río Bogotá basin.
Organization to exploreWorks in a related habitat
A non-profit founded in 2011 as a citizen environmental education project on Bogotá's wetlands. Its website lists ecological walks, tree planting, workshops, bird monitoring and citizen science, and a state-of-knowledge document on the wetlands of the Bogotá River basin prepared under an agreement with the Humboldt Institute. Its main work is on wetlands rather than the river channel.
Official website of Fundación Humedales Bogotá (external site)
Organization to exploreCountry-level expertise
A Colombian non-profit founded in 1985 that works on ecological restoration and environmental education. Its website describes a project on artisanal fishing on the Magdalena River, and a BBVA article describes its riparian-forest restoration around the Ciénaga de Zapatosa. Its sources do not tie it to the Bogotá River itself, only to the Magdalena basin the Bogotá joins.
If you work on or live near Bogotá River (Río Bogotá), we would like to hear what would genuinely help.
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