Mining impact on potable water and on Zika epidemic development in the Department of Meta, Colombia in 2016

Justification of the research / research argumentIn Colombia mining is a strategic sector  for its development and is also a business that trades several millions each year. In the Department of Meta, 65.51% of the 29... [ view full abstract ]

Justification of the research / research argument

In Colombia mining is a strategic sector  for its development and is also a business that trades several millions each year. In the Department of Meta, 65.51% of the 29 municipalities practice opencast mining, which consumes huge amounts of water and benefits the transmission of zika and other vector-borne diseases, due to the lack of potable water in both urban and rural areas.

Aim / purpose

To identify a possible association between the presence of mining, potable water and presence of Zika’s epidemy in the Department of Meta-Colombia.

Methods / approach / theoretical framework

Descriptive study of mining characterization in the Department of Meta, its impact on the potable water and Zika’s epidemy. A study was conducted in order to map mining areas in the Department and to track Zika’s risks behaviors in the 27 municipalities with high risks of transmission.

In the extraction processes of different minerals, the impacts on human health and on environment are several. Mining usually has a triple direct impact on water in the territories in which it is developed. First, mining consumes water. Second, mining pollutes water. Third, mining destroys water sources.

Findings / results / conclusions;

In the Department of Meta 65.51% of the 29 municipalities practice illegal mining in open areas which consumes water and causes a deep impact in front of Zika’s epidemy due to the lack of availability of water in both urban and rural areas. Municipalities with presence of mining and potable water coverage less than 30% had a higher prevalence of Zika.

55% of the municipalities in the Department of Meta record mining activity, opencast mining and drilling of wells affecting water sources in both urban and rural areas.

Keywords:

Mining

Water

Environmental pollution

Implications or relation with the central theme of the conference: including Sustainability for Development.

The presence of legal and illegal mining in Colombia is affecting the availability of potable water, impacting public health, due to higher prevalence of vector-borne diseases such as Zika. It is necessary that the practice of mining reinforces controls on the sustainability of drinking water.