From private to public: Challenges in la Paz and El Alto, Bolivia

Abstract

In January 2007, the Bolivian government transformed the consortium Aguas del Illimani, which was responsible for the La Paz-El Alto water services concession, into a public and social enterprise company with the aim of reducing inequalities plaguing unequipped areas. This case study helps illuminate the ruptures and continuities that exist in the organization of the current water supply network. The urban governance of the new municipal company faces both a process of metropolitization, which may lead to conflicts between municipalities, and the antagonistic logics between the municipal utility provider and the surrounding rural communities, which are traversed by the network as it channels water to urban areas. Integrating indigenous populations into public policies is characterized by logics of conflict rather than a genuine attempt to accommodate their right to water, even though that right is promulgated by the Bolivian government.