OREANDA-NEWS. September 12, 2016. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a total \\$86 million in loans and grants to support wastewater treatment, solid waste management and other actions in Bolivia’s Katari River watershed in order to reduce pollution in Lake Titicaca, into which the Katari empties its waters.

The funds will support the implementation of a resilient, integral watershed management model that will include wastewater treatment for 165,000 households, connecting 5,000 homes to the sewer system, and providing solid-waste landfill disposal services to another 10,000 homes.

“The Titicaca basin has been suffering for years from the effects of climate change and contamination from domestic, industrial and mining wastewater discharges,” said Omar Garzonio, IDB project team leader. “This project is a first but very important step in the process of reverting this situation.”

Building, improving and enhancing wastewater treatment plants and sewer systems will demand a \\$65 million investment over the project’s five-year implementation period.

Another \\$7 million will be used to purchase landfill operation machinery and vehicles and to finance the deployment of more than 500 solid waste collection containers. The funds will also help build drainage systems and access cells for the Copacabana and Tiahuanaco landfills; build three new landfills or equivalent facilities; and close three existing dumpsites.

An additional \\$9 million will be earmarked for management strengthening to help cope with existing and anticipated climate change impacts, pollution source identification, personnel training, and communications.

The funding consists of several components:

A \\$25 million loan from the Bank’s ordinary capital for a 30-year term, with six years of grace and a LIBOR-based interest rate; a soft \\$4.5 million loan from the IDB’s Fund for Special Operations for a 40-year term, with 40 years of grace at 0.25 percent fix interest; and \\$47.3 million from the grant leverage mechanism, from the IDB’s ordinary capital; these resources, which total \\$77.3 million, will be complemented with a \\$8.4 million grant from the European Union, taking the operation’s grand total to \\$85.7 million.

About the IDB

The Inter-American Development Bank’s mission is to improve lives. Founded in 1959, it is a leading source of long-term financing for the economic, social and institutional development of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, the IDB also conducts cutting-edge research and provides policy advice, technical assistance and training to public and private clients throughout the region.