Maria Paula Ramirez Medina
Environmental engineer from Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas. Technical intern at the Green Institute. E mail: mpramirezm@outlook.com mpramirezm@correo.udistrital.edu.co
Daniel Felipe Romero Cruz
Environmental engineer, from Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas. Email: dcruz.34724@gmaill.com daniel.romero@esap.edu.co
Alvaro Martin Gutierrez M
Professor at Universidad Distrital Francisco Jose de Caldas and thesis director of “Perception of the water resources in the communities of the area of influence of the influence PNN Chingaza, municipality of Fomeque”. Email: amgutierrezm@udistrital.edu.co
Abstract
The link between water and poverty is strongly intertwined. A sound assessment of water scarcity is crucial to identify priority areas in the water sector and develop appropriate strategies to intervene in these communities. The calculation of the Water Poverty Index (HPI) allows the conversion of qualitative aspects; the environmental perception of a community about the water resource, to quantitative values combining physical, biotic, and socioeconomic elements. The calculation of the Water Poverty Index (HPI) of this study was carried out under the sustainability approach, holistic perspective, and was evaluated based on geometric analysis. This study shows an application of the Water Poverty Index to estimate and compare the level of water scarcity in 5 hamlets located in the Negro river sub-basin, belonging to the buffer zone of the Chingaza National Natural Park in Colombia.
55 households were selected using the stratified random sampling technique for the identification of environmental perceptions and 20 indicators to estimate the 5 key components described by the Index.
The result of the study shows a medium-low degree (54.74) of water poverty in the Rio Negro sub-basin. The index score varies greatly (from 40.29 to 62.85) along the buffer zone and it was found that the hamlets closer to the urban area suffer more from water scarcity compared to the hamlets bordering the protected area.
Keywords: water scarcity, Water Poverty Index (WPI), environmental impact, poverty level.