Uru Uru Lake

Uru Uru Lake is a lake in the Oruro Department in Bolivia. It is fed by the Desaguadero River and the Jach'a Jawira. It is situated at an elevation of 3,686 m, its surface area is 214 km2.

Uru Uru Lake
Location ofUru Uru Lake in Bolivia.
Location ofUru Uru Lake in Bolivia.
Uru Uru Lake
Location ofUru Uru Lake in Bolivia.
Location ofUru Uru Lake in Bolivia.
Uru Uru Lake
LocationOruro Department
Coordinates18°5′40″S 67°5′46″W
Primary inflowsRío Desaguadero
Primary outflowsRío Desaguadero, Laq'a Jawira
Basin countriesBolivia
Surface area214 km2 (83 sq mi)
Max. depth1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Surface elevation3,686 m (12,093 ft)
SettlementsOruro, Machacamarca
Official nameLagos Poopó y Uru Uru
Designated11 July 2002
Reference no.1181[1]

The lake is formed by the flow of the Desaguadero River at its mouth into Lake Poopó, over the extensive sedimentation known as "Santo Tomás" from the small hermitage found there that was completely inundated. The formation dates to 1962. The river connects Lake Titicaca and Lake Poopó.

Ecology

The lake used to be a tourist attraction for boating and fishing, as it contained a large number of fish. During a long drought in 2016, the lake lost almost all of its water. This was described by local media and experts as an environmental catastrophe caused by several factors, including climate change and the use of water for mining.[2]

In 2021, a large part of the lake is covered by trash. Much of it is plastic from nearby Oruro where residents dump their refuse. There is also contamination from run-off from nearby mines as the town Oruro is an industrial mining center. The lake is polluted by heavy metals such as cadmium, zinc, and arsenic.[3][4]

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Uru Uru.
  1. "Lagos Poopó y Uru Uru". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  2. (in Spanish) Marcelo Tedesqui, El lago Uru Uru desaparece y se lleva vida y esperanza, La Patria (reprint from El Deber), 25 November 2016
  3. "Lake Uru-Uru in Bolivia covered in plastic waste". Kold.com. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  4. Quintanilla, Victor (2019-07-30). "Communities request international support to save Bolivia's Poopó and Uru Uru lakes". Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). Retrieved 2021-04-14.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.