crisis at lake atitlan

From the Neo-orn bird list:

Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009

Folks,

I received a request from a fellow birder about visiting Lake Atitlan. He had seen this article [How Guatemala's most beautiful lake turned ugly, at Time magazine] and wanted to know if the problem was worse than what was stated here.

My answer:

Rick,

The problem is much worse than the article states. Untreated sewage to the tune of 40 tons a day is still going into the lake. The govt is corrupt and has done nothing so far and I doubt they will. The locals think God will solve the problem. It is impossible to get through to these people. The wastewater treatment plant in Panajachel was washed out in Hurricane Stan in 2005. It was funded to be rebuilt once - and the money disappeared. The stench is out of this world and the danger of the cyanobacteria is growing everyday. If I could leave, I would TODAY. Unfortunately, it will take me some time to relocate. I highly suggest you do NOT come here. They are still using pesticides, washing their clothes in the algae and the lake looks brown for miles and miles. A good website that has photos and factual information is www.lakeatitlanhealth.com. The American who did this website has since left - but it still offers the most factual details of the problems with the lake. I think this is the worst environmental disaster I have witnessed and I am an Environmental Studies graduate from the University of California at Santa Cruz. I'm sorry to send such bad news but Lake Atitlan is in a state of eutrophication and there is nothing but misinformation, ignorance and lack of infrastructure, not to mention significant govt corruption, There are hundreds of Lesser Scaup here now and many other migratory birds from the US. I expect ALL the waterbirds to die. I have watched them trying to preen the algae off like an oil slick.. I am heartbroken. It was so beautiful.

 
Carol C. Anderson
San Pedro La Laguna
Guatemala
www.monterey-bay.net/birds

Read more:

• NASA's Earth Observatory has a piece and satellite imagery.
• Global Nature declares Lake Atitlan Threatened Lake of 2009.
• One of several blogs documenting the tragic response of villagers.
• See also a piece in Guatemala Times.

Comments

[Patrick]

Wow, how sad. What a tragedy. I think the part that most disturbs me is the part about the locals thinking that it will fix itself.

[Valerie]

Is this the lake described in the book Mama Poc?

[Nuthatch]

Whew, it's been a long time since I read that book...but yes, same lake.