Climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today and is exacerbating the global water crisis. Climate variability, along with extreme phenomena such as droughts and floods, is having a devastating impact on the availability of drinking water in Latin America and the Caribbean.
According to World Bank estimates, “the world will face a 40% shortfall between forecast demand and available supply of water by 2030”. Although this region has nearly one-third of the planet’s water resources, water stress is increasing at a staggering rate. The situation is worsening due to the overexploitation of aquifers, water pollution and a rampant increase in demand.
The figures are alarming. According to the World Bank, around 150 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean live in highly water-scarce areas. This problem does not only affect the availability of water for human consumption, but also impacts agriculture, industries and ecosystems, causing negative consequences such as food shortages, population migration and loss of biodiversity.
Against this background, it is essential to improve water management in the region. Latin America performs poorly in this area, mainly due to the lack of effective regulations. The implementation of robust policies and projects that promote efficient and sustainable use of water resources must be prioritized.
Pablo Pizarro, the Municipal Market and Digital Solutions Manager at Xylem LATAM, and Nicolás Monterde, the COO Spanish LATAM at Idrica, unpack some of the water challenges facing Latin America with one objective in mind: to ensure a sustainable future for the region.
Water challenges in Latin America
1. Cambio Climático: alarma ante la creciente escasez de agua
Climate change is exacerbating the water crisis in Latin America, triggering extreme weather events such as droughts and floods. Countries such as Mexico and Brazil have experienced severe droughts that are affecting agriculture, hydroelectric power generation and their drinking water supply. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), water availability in some areas is expected to decrease by 10-20% by 2050.
According to Nicolás Monterde, this is the most obvious challenge faced by regions across the world, “From Mexico to Chile, there are regions dealing with situations of extreme drought never seen before. It is worth remembering the case of Monterrey, which is still recovering from a severe water shortage. In this case, technology has been extremely helpful in controlling the situation”.
2. Water stress and water loss
Latin America is one of the regions with the highest water stress, and increasing demand and water loss in distribution systems only add further pressure to the problem. According to SUNASS, in 2040, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Dominican Republic and Argentina will be the countries most affected by water stress and 43% of the population in Latin America and the Caribbean will be living in areas of moderate to extreme water stress.
In addition, over-extraction of water from aquifers, an obsolete distribution infrastructure and leaks in supply networks compound the problem. According to Pablo Pizarro, “Latin America has an average loss rate of 40%, i.e., 40% of the total drinking water produced is lost before it reaches the end user”. Thus, there is a pressing need to improve infrastructure and management to reduce these losses and ensure more efficient water use.
3. Urban water management
The rapid growth of cities, the lack of reliable infrastructure and pollution are some of the main difficulties when supplying drinking water and managing wastewater in urban environments. According to ECLAC, Latin America is the most urbanized region in the developing world. Two-thirds of the Latin American population lives in cities of 20,000 inhabitants or more and almost 80% live in urban areas.
Pablo Pizarro stated that “the growing scarcity of water, the need to achieve comprehensive sanitation coverage and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as how to provide better operational performance are some of the main challenges for water management in urban areas”. In Pizarro’s view, “significant investment in infrastructure and technology is required to improve water quality and ensure a reliable supply”.
In turn, Nicolás Monterde said that drinking water supply and sanitation services “are fundamental for the economic and social development of the region. Governments and society as a whole must acknowledge water as a strategic and finite resource, embracing sustainable practices to ensure its long-term availability”. In the opinion of the Idrica executive, “it is crucial to promote citizen participation and raise awareness about the need to implement sustainable water-use practices to ensure water sustainability in Latin America”.
4. Technology to manage water in agriculture and industry
One of the latent water challenges in Latin America lies in the need to implement advanced technologies for efficient water management in key sectors such as agriculture and industry.
It is worth mentioning that agriculture is one of the economic drivers of this region, where some countries, such as Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Peru, lead the world in the output of certain agricultural products. In this sense, the Xylem executive indicated the importance of digital technology “as an enabler to improve water management in agricultural processes, achieve savings in water use, as well as to optimize the costs associated with its treatment”. Meanwhile, Monterde mentioned that the adoption of new technologies “is essential to reduce water consumption and minimize environmental impact, and although it depends a lot on the culture of the utilities, it is highly valued in terms of cost-benefit and return on investment”.
Monitoring water use, implementing efficient irrigation systems and reusing wastewater are some of the technological solutions that can help optimize water use in these sectors.
5. Digital transformation in the water sector
Digitally transforming the water sector, understood as deploying digital technologies to improve water management efficiency and sustainability, is undoubtedly one of the biggest water challenges in the region.
Digitalization improves water management and decision-making through the use of sensors to monitor water quality, the use of intelligent management systems to optimize supply, and the implementation of data platforms for information analysis. Along these lines, Pizarro pointed out that the quote “you can’t manage what you don’t measure” succinctly explains a water utility’s chances of success in achieving its operational, financial and sustainability objectives. In other words, it is necessary not only to collect data, but also to analyze and interpret it.
Nicolas Monterde also stated that the digital transformation of the water sector is a huge challenge, but that the fruits are already starting to be seen. “The adoption of technology and new working tools help to improve operational efficiency, reduce losses and guarantee a reliable supply of drinking water for the population”.
A good example of digital transformation is the company Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey (SADM), which recently won the Innovation Water Circularity Award 2024, presented at WEX Global, an international event that promotes the exchange of knowledge and best practices among the world’s leading players in the water and energy sectors, which recently held its 19th meeting in Madrid (Spain).
