Concern is growing over pollution in Lake Maracaibo, Latin America’s largest lake. The problem appears to be systemic and environmental activists are warning that their environment is on the verge of collapse. The appearance of verdigris, a cyanobacterium that covers a significant portion of the lake’s surface, has multiplied neighborhood complaints, hampered economic activity and raised enormous concerns about the health impact on the population. The voices calling on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to declare an ecological emergency are becoming increasingly numerous.
Some satellite images show that 70% of the lake is currently covered by this microalgae, which emits an aggressive smell, a consequence of the high concentration of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen in some of its tributaries. After years and decades of neglect, the Chavista government has promised to work to alleviate the situation. Josué Lorca, Minister of Ecosocialism, met with the board of the Institute for the Conservation of Lake Maracaibo, local mayors and some scientists from the University of Zulia to brainstorm solutions. Waste cleanup campaigns have begun and work is underway to reactivate contamination and spill monitors.
A thick greenish film covers the trash and plastic polluting the waters of Lake Maracaibo as fishermen prepare their bait in the background. Ariana Cubillos (AP)
With an area of more than 13,000 square kilometers – larger than the entire island of Jamaica, for example – and an average depth of around 50 meters, Lake Maracaibo is a collecting basin for 135 rivers and streams and home to Maracaibo, the country’s second largest city has long faced serious environmental problems, particularly due to 100 years of oil production. The East Coast was the most affected by spills, which multiplied due to lack of maintenance of facilities. The bottom of Lake Maracaibo is criss-crossed by pipes and oil pipelines of all kinds from Petróleos de Venezuela.
“The lake’s problems are neither specific nor short-term. “There are simultaneous problems here that together create this situation,” says Alejandro Alvarez, director of the NGO Clima 21. The lake basin’s forests are severely damaged by overuse, and the cities and towns that populate its coasts dump garbage there its waters, into which waste from agriculture and livestock farming also ends up. Some areas of the lake are suitable for fish farming and shrimp farming, and some coastal towns have an excess of plastic waste. The verdigris has made the accumulation of disasters a systemic problem. “What the Chavista governments have done is ignore the problem and spread it,” he says.
“The middle of the lake is a dead area. At the bottom of the lake is a cone-shaped layer called the hypolimnetic cone, which has historical concentrations of nutrients, nitrogen and organic matter brought by the rivers, particularly the Catatumbo, due to agricultural and industrial activities and the activity of some Colombian areas like Cúcuta and Pamplona,” explains Lenin Parra, biologist, tour guide and professor at the Bolivarian University of Venezuela.
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Verdigris, explains Parra, is not a new phenomenon, but its growth is. “The Swiss botanist Henri Pittier discussed it in his notes 100 years ago, even near the city of Maracaibo. It has a cyclical character, the transit of these microalgae depends on the currents and tides, on the exchange between the Gulf of Venezuela and the lake.” Parra emphasizes the importance of preserving the lake’s mangrove forests as spaces that provide nutrients and absorb pollutants. Salinization of the lake, another necessity of oil production, is also an environmental problem. The northern neck between the islands of Zapara and San Carlos, historically only a few meters high, has been regularly dredged since 1958 to make room for large oil tankers.
“There has always been an exchange between the salt water of the Gulf and the fresh water of the rest of the lake. In the rainy season, the water flows of the 135 tributaries rise and there is fresh water. When it doesn’t rain, seawater comes in from the Gulf. The shipping canal opened the floodgates for the lake’s salt and brackish water. It is actually an estuary and the fauna adapts to these conditions,” explains Parra. “In my opinion, without access to seawater, the lake would become a large septic tank if alternative decontamination measures were not taken,” he adds.
A pig covered in a thick greenish film that grows in Lake Maracaibo sniffs the bottom in search of food.Ariana Cubillos (AP)
As incredible as it may seem, there is still life in Lake Maracaibo: flora and fauna, some fishing activities, various species of fishing birds, dolphins, alligators and even manatees. It often happens that many specimens show traces of petroleum and oil stains. The blue crab is intensively exploited, a specimen that annually migrates through its waters from south to north.
“A month and a half after the announcement, we have not seen any strong measures to restore the lake,” says Yohan Flores, a member of the NGO Azul Environmentalistas. “We have seen remedies: cleaning days on the coasts, from plastic.” There are talks about renovating the Maracaibo sewage treatment plants. PDVSA repaired some pipes. But the underlying problem is not being addressed and the spills continue. “Everyone is affected and very concerned about what is happening.”
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