We Want

Water

After Lake Titicaca, Lake Poopé is the

biggest lake in Bolivia. And the lake with the

funniest name, of course. But since 2015,

Lake Poopé has no longer been a lake. High

temperatures have caused the shallow water

to evaporate Thousands of dead f ish lie on

the cracked bottom roasting in the sun

Scattered across the dry plain f ishing boats

wait to go sailing again That moment may

never come The water of Lake Poopé came

from rain and from glaciers But not much

rain has fallen in recent years And less and

less is coming from the glaciers because

they are getting smaller However its not

all the fault of climate change Farmers

and mines in the region secretly took far

too much water for themselves They need

the water for agriculture and to get lithium

out of the ground for the battery in your

smartphone. The truth is that there’s simply

not enough water in Bolivia.

Imagine turning on the faucet and nothing

coming out. Or f lushing the toilet and it

doesnt f lush Or going to the store for

bottles of water but the shelves are empty

mat was what happened for weeks in large

areas of Bolivia Schools closed their doors

You werent allowed to go to the bathroom

in restaurants The government brought in

tankers of water and the people lined up

with buckets and basins They were only

given water to drink not to wash themselves

There wasnt enough for that The Bolivians

were furious with the government Carrying

empty buckets and bottles they went out

onto the streets to protest They held up

signs saying WE WANT WATER