April 10, 2023, 5:10 PM
April 10, 2023, 5:10 PM
A new commission from the Directorate of Natural Resources (Direna) and the Environmental Quality Service (Sdcam) of the Santa Cruz Governorate together with the laboratory of the Gabriel René Moreno Autonomous University (UAGRM) left this Monday for the municipality of San Ignacio de Velasco, to assist with analysis of water quality in the Guapomó dam and in the area of the public network of said area.
The work is carried out after Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th of April there was a mortality of thousands of fish on the shore of the dam, which generated great concern among residents and local authorities. It would be the first time that an event of this dimension has occurred.
The director of Direna, Yovenka Rosado, reported that an interdisciplinary Biodiversity commission was present at the site over the weekend to carry out a physical and clinical analysis of the fish that are dead on the shore of the dam, however, she clarified that until the date no signs of poisoning by heavy metals, harmful substances, or other toxic substances were detected.
Thousands of dead fish were found on the shore of the Guapomó dam. Photo: GAD
He stated that the team monitored and raked the areas surrounding the dam to see the state of the wild animals that inhabit the area and no dead species was found.
“Currently we are waiting for the analyzes that the Environmental Quality Service is doing about the quality of the water to be able to issue the legal technical report on the situation and the state of the water dam,” Rosado said.
For his part, Ruddy Robles, director of Environmental Management and Control at Sdcam, stated that a survey of activities is being carried out in the area surrounding the Guapomó dam to identify any impact that could be inside the dam.
Gonzalo Céspedes, president of the San Ignacio de Velasco Public Services Cooperative (Coosiv Ltda), responsible for providing water to the capital of Velasco province, said that there is contamination in the dam of which they estimate many factors, and that in parallel other analyzes are being carried out to confirm the results of the Government.
The environmental authorities ordered the population to be careful when consuming water until the exact cause of the death of the fish is determined, as well as the water quality in the dam and in the public water network.
