The rivers that hug Santo Domingo

For a city and its people, having a river in its demarcation is a privilege due to its fresh water contributions, its ecosystem and its waterway, but it can become a big problem if it is not treated properly, as is the case. del Ozama and Isabela, which, as a result of occupations on their banks, pollution, deforestation and the lack of public conservation policies, have become the “dumps” of the urban areas of Greater Santo Domingo.

The Ozama River is born in the "Loma 7 Picos" and with its more than 400 tributaries it is a natural resource of great impact for residents throughout its length of 2,847.15 square kilometers of surface, according to data from the Ministry of the Environment. Equally important is the Isabela, which rises in the town of the hill "El Pilón", in Villa Altagracia.

The Isabela is more polluted than the Ozama, both with effluents from 241 companies installed mainly in the National District, as well as 54 streams that discharge their solid and liquid waste into the channels of both rivers.

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In the town of Los Tres Brazos, Santo Domingo Este, and in the Simón Bolívar neighborhood, National District, both rivers converge, receiving the Ozama more pollution from the Isabela tributary.

There are many attempts to rescue both water resources, the contamination of which has increased after the death of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo when the settlements on its banks accelerated. One of the attempts to rescue the Ozama was the RESURE Project, during the government of Joaquín Balaguer (1994-1996, which sought to improve urban conditions and protect rivers, but it was not continued.

Later, in the first governments of Leonel Fernández, the National Council for Urban Affairs (CONAU) was created, which also worked on the sanitation of the Ozama, but it did not prosper either due to the amount of resources it implied because, like other projects, it implied retirement. of thousands of families that had built all over the banks of the urban part of the then National district.

There were particular efforts of projects such as "Cigua", promoted by Ciudad Alternativa and other entities that make life on the banks of the two rivers, but although some progress was made, at least in raising people's awareness, the great and serious problems persist .

In figures:

55.7 million euros was the investment in the La Zurza wastewater treatment plant.

The most recent effort to rescue the Ozama and Isabela rivers was made during the government of Danilo Medina, who by means of Decree 260-14 declares the rehabilitation, sanitation, preservation and sustainable use of the high, medium basins a "high national priority. and downstream of the Ozama and Isabela rivers, as well as the integral development of the surrounding human settlements ”.

The objective is to develop the two natural resources in a sustainable way, improve the quality of life of the people and promote the social inclusion of the population that allows the socioeconomic development of the residents of that part of Greater Santo Domingo (The National District and the province Santo Domingo).

Article 2 of the aforementioned decree creates the Presidential Commission for the Rehabilitation, Sanitation, Preservation and Sustainable Use of the Ozama and Isabela basin and the comprehensive development of the settlements. This commission is made up of 21 organizations and is chaired by the Minister of the Presidency, at that time by Gustavo Montalvo.

In August 2015, the then Minister of the Presidency, Gustavo Montalvo, president of the commission for the rescue of the Ozama and Isabela rivers, made a tour of the Ozama to start the work on the Strategic Plan for Sustainable Management and said:

“The comprehensive recovery of the basins of these rivers is going to be one of the most transformative initiatives of this Government in terms of the environment. And I say transformative because the environment is not a minor priority, or an ornament, the environment is the basis of the health of our people, the growth of our economy and the progress of our country, "he said.

Onofre Rojas, former director of the Greater Santo Domingo Commonwealth and of the Presidential Commission created by Decree 260-14 and knowledgeable on the water issue, explains that there were many entities and organizations working to rescue the two rivers, but they made scattered efforts, but that with the Strategic Plan that was designed 2015-2030 they were unified and progress was made in five years of work with visible results.

He indicates that the work was divided into four pillars, creating commissions to work in the upper, middle and lower basins that included micro-basins and work tables to promote initiatives. He recalls that the Strategic Plan was created that included the Urban Solid Waste Master Plan that is in force today.

Calls not to take into account studies on the problem of solid waste, taking into account rivers, in which more than a million and a half dollars were invested in studies that are available so as not to start over from scratch.

“I hear that they are going to start inventing solutions again, we have studied this issue in great depth and as a country for a long time. In 2018, a work process began to update the Master Plan and again we obtained 750 thousand dollars more from the Government of Japan through JICA and the IDB and that plan is there and tells what to do, ”he emphasizes.

He reported that he sees with great pity that apparently unstudied ideas are being sold to President Luis Abinader and reiterated that the issue of environmental pollution by solid waste as well as leachate should be studied not by just anyone, but by experts.

This effort managed to advance and within the context of its operation, more than 1,787 families were transferred from the old town to Nueva Barquita, a model housing project built in Santo Domingo Norte and in the place of the eliminated human settlement a park is being built.

Another achievement was the cleaning up of ravines. At least the last administration cleaned up some 11 of these natural drains, among them the famous El Arrozal ravines, in La Ciénaga; La Eloisa, in Las Cañitas; La Cañada del Diablo, today Cañada de Dios, in La Zurza, La Villa Duarte, La Cañada Los Platanitos, in Santo Domingo Norte from where 98 families were taken to whom 72 apartments were delivered, in Santo Domingo Norte and 26 duplex houses in the same area of ​​the glen.

In some of the intervened gullies, a work was done to cover them that now allows the circulation of vehicles overhead, reducing bad odors, the danger of being affected by the flood when it rains and reducing the proliferation of vermin. However, the ravines continue to discharge tons of solid and liquid waste into the rivers.

The “Nuevo Domingo Savio” project, started in the last administration, seeks to free the banks of the Ozama between Los Guandules and La Ciénaga from more than 1,400 families who lived and some still live, in vulnerable conditions, most of which have already been evicted. In this space, an avenue with a river park is built and accesses will be expanded, educational centers, fields and other works are built for the benefit of those who were not mobilized.

As a way to clean the Ozama of the waste that carries its water, the Dominican Navy is active with equipment that prevents plastic waste from reaching the sea, but also the past authorities installed "El Interceptor 004", a boat that captures the waste floating or semi-submerged with the help of a barrier.

It is a unique vessel in Latin America donated by the Dutch organization The Ocean Cleanup, dedicated to the collection of plastics in rivers and seas. There are only two more devices working in the world, although the Ozama is the fourth to be manufactured (that's why it is 004), it operates with state-of-the-art technology and is powered by solar energy. It has the capacity to extract more than 100,000 tons of waste per day.

Added to this device are two boats donated by the Tropigas Foundation, within its social responsibility program "Ribera Verde" that have been operating since July 2018 and collect organic material such as "Hyacinths of Water or Lila" that carry the two rivers.

Resolution 13-2016 issued by the Ministry of the Environment prohibited the scrapping of and recycling of boats on the riverbanks. The then Minister of the Environment, Francisco Domínguez Brito, also ordered the withdrawal of all vessels from both rivers and this was done, except for the floating power plant located between the Mella and Floating bridges, but after a few months they returned to anchor vessels. at the Ozama.

One of the most important works, and that is part of the Sanitary Sewer Master Plan of Greater Santo Domingo, contemplated within decree 260-14, which seeks to avoid further contamination of the Ozama and Isabela rivers is the Treatment Plant or purification station La Zurza wastewater system that collects the water from the sanitary system of 24 sectors of the National District and Santo Domingo Norte, the cost of which amounted to RD $ 2,890,856,872.8.

Refocus human settlements

Waldys Taveras, executive director of the Greater Santo Domingo Commonwealth considers that this is an important work that prevents the discharge into rivers of sanitary discharges from thousands of homes.

“The best project, in environmental terms, that has been done is the treatment plant made by the CAASD (Corporación del Aqueducto y Alcantarillado de Santo Domingo) in the management of Alejandro Montás, which left a significant instrument to conserve the environment in the Greater Santo Domingo, one day we will have to recognize it ”.

President's position

President Luis Abinader, like the other presidents, showed interest in facing the contamination of the Ozama and Isabela and the overcrowding situation in which thousands of people live on the shores of both natural resources, for which he instructed the Minister of the Environment to take as many measures are necessary.

"Our interest is to improve the conditions of the inhabitants on the banks of the Ozama and Isabela rivers and take homes that are in risk areas to where they are protected ... we are going to do what others did not do," he said, leading a recently toured the two rivers.

To achieve this, it requires the enthusiastic participation of institutions such as the Ministries of the Environment, the Presidency, the Corporation of Aqueducts and Sewers of Santo Domingo (CAASD), mayors of the National District and Santo Domingo East and North, the Navy and the private sector. such as the Tropigas Foundation, the Santo Domingo Water Fund, among others.

On another occasion, the president visited the Nuevo Domingo Savio project developed by the Unit for the Readequation of the Barquita and Environment (URBE) and there he defended what has been done so far and said that the project is well designed so it does not merit major modifications".

The Government is determined to continue the process of recovering the rivers to dignify the lives of the people who live in their surroundings, guarantee sanitation and enhance their tourism development.

Water Fund

The Santo Domingo Water Fund has created innovative mechanisms to guarantee investment resources aimed at the restoration and conservation of ecosystems in the hydrographic basins that supply our large cities.

According to a document provided to Diario Libre, the entity indicates that the initiative operates through capital contributions made voluntarily by large water users, as well as donations from companies and sensitized individuals.

“The resources raised are invested in the capital market through trusts, while the financial returns are invested in the leverage of additional resources for the implementation of projects. These projects are located in the water-producing basins of Greater Santo Domingo, such as the basins of the Ozama, Haina and Nizao rivers ”.

In the case of the Ozama River, the basin makes great use of its underground resources, reflected in the fact that more than 26% of the drinking water supply for Santo Domingo comes from underground sources. Together with the surface supply, the contribution of the basin amounts to 35.76%.

The Barrera de Salinidad aqueduct, in Santo Domingo Este, has as its main source of water the Ozama river next to the Yabacao that join near the Santo Domingo Beltway, next to the Northeast Highway.

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