The river and wetlands system of the Bogotá region, central Colombia, forms the very ecological core of the geography, history and memories of Bogotá city and the Cundinamarca department. The Bogotá River, with 375 km, crosses the Bogotá Savanna from north to south, eventually reaching the Magdalena River, the country’s main fluvial artery. The headwater region is 3,400 meters above sea level in the Guacheneque Highlands in a páramo socioecosystem. Twelve kilometers downstream, the river begins to receive waste from tanneries and quarries, pesticides and fertilizers, as well as load releases from the sewers of industries and cities, turning it into one of the most contaminated rivers in the world. The riverbed transformation in the floodplain mirrors the rapid urbanization processes of the region, ushered during the 20th Century, in the Anthropocene period, and still ongoing._x000D_
The Bogotá River is also considered today one of the most contaminated rivers in the world. Even in the last decade, public and residents’ concern over the river’s restoration has triggered the development of new infrastructures to restore the wetland-based headwater region. _x000D_
The geohistorical planning and re-patterning process in Bogotá River’s headwaters is the focus of this research process. The co-existence of public, private and communitarian initiatives have executed their own river-enlivening practices but with different proposes, clashing with their future visions and blocking the process of recovering socio-ecological river life. Therefore, this research investigates how river imaginaries (particularly socioecological memories) differ per actor group and how these dynamically relate to materialization through technological intervention and governance proposals. Restoring the river and protecting its sources in a páramo ecosystem is crucial to trigger new social relations and spatial configuration to support new imaginaries and future-making._x000D_
Project: https://movingrivers.org/
Laura Giraldo-Martínez
PhD Candidate, River Commons Project. Water Resources Management group in Wageningen University & Research in alliance with Geography Department of Universidad Nacional de Colombia.
ID Abstract: 678