Quito, Ecuador
Focus area
A river that crosses Quito, where sewage and solid waste are major pressures and a court has recognized the river's rights.
In brief
The Machángara is described by Ecuadorian reporting as the main river of Quito. It runs roughly north to south through the city of about 2.6 million people, and its upper course begins in the Andes. Many neighborhoods, markets, industries and homes sit along its banks.
In a 2024 report, Mongabay Latam described the river as receiving mostly wastewater, with 99 percent of the water it receives being wastewater and only 1 percent treated, and quoted figures that Quito treats only 2 percent of its total wastewater. A 2024 Climate Week NYC article similarly reported that city officials acknowledged treating only 2 percent of the city's water, and noted an average oxygen level of 2 percent in the river.
A November 2025 study by Galápagos Guardians, an initiative of the company Ichthion, used satellite images, drone surveys and on-foot inspections of the urban stretch. It found that 75 percent of the sections assessed had high or critical levels of solid-waste contamination, with the worst areas in southern Quito. The most common items were single-use plastics, PET bottles, plastic foam, household waste, tires and construction debris.
In July 2024 a Quito court declared the river a subject of rights and ordered the municipality to act. After an appeal, the Provincial Court of Pichincha ratified the ruling in September 2025, according to Primicias, which reported 27 reparation measures including a study of contamination sources, stricter controls on discharges and recovery of the riverbanks.
Our focus is on supportive, locally led roles that fit a river like this: simple, transparent riverbank and litter surveys, waste-prevention ideas that neighborhood groups choose themselves, community cleanups organized with local collectives, and support for the Ecuadorian organizations already working on the river.
Cleanup does not make water safe to drink. Access to safe drinking water is a separate program led by qualified local specialists, with appropriate treatment and regular testing.
Several Ecuadorian civil-society groups appear in the sources. CEDENMA, a coalition of Ecuadorian non-profit environmental organizations, is named in reporting by Euronews and Climate Week NYC among the groups that supported the Machángara case. Colectivo Rescate del Río San Pedro is a volunteer collective founded in 2021 that organizes river cleanups on the neighboring San Pedro River and is named in coverage of the Machángara ruling. Acción Ecológica, a long-established Ecuadorian environmental organization, published an analysis of the 2024 ruling.
The court also created a monitoring body called Guardianas del Río Machángara, made up of collectives, citizen groups, experts and the ombudsman's office. Quito's collectives and neighborhood groups know this river far better than we do.
The next steps are to listen: speak with the Quito groups already working on the Machángara, learn what monitoring and cleanups already exist, and find out where local teams would welcome extra hands or equipment.
Organization to exploreWorks on this waterway
An Ecuadorian coalition that describes itself as a body representing non-profit civil organizations working to defend nature and the environment. Euronews and Climate Week NYC name it among the groups that supported the 2024 Machángara rights-of-nature case in Quito. Its own website does not mention the Machángara.
Organization to exploreWorks on this waterway
A volunteer citizen collective in Quito, founded in 2021, that organizes community cleanups (mingas), education and advocacy for the San Pedro River. Expreso reported that by early 2025 it had held 22 mingas with more than 1,500 volunteers and collected more than 13 tons of waste. Acción Ecológica names it among the collectives behind the 2024 Machángara ruling, and its link page lists information on the Guardianas del Machángara. Its own cleanups focus on the San Pedro rather than the Machángara.
Official website of Colectivo Rescate del Río San Pedro (external site)
Organization to exploreCountry-level expertise
A long-established Ecuadorian environmental organization whose website covers water as a human right, rights of nature, climate and extractive industries. It published an analysis of the 2024 Machángara ruling and hosts the court sentence. The sources reviewed do not describe it running river cleanups or monitoring itself, so its relevance is at country level.
If you work on or live near Machángara River, we would like to hear what would genuinely help.
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