The Justice of Córdoba issued an unprecedented ruling regarding the water contamination. It ordered the province to clean up Lake San Roque.
The Administrative Litigation Chamber of the 3rd Nomination ruled in favor of a collective environmental protection action filed in 2022 by the Foundation for the Development of Sustainable Policies (Fundeps).
Historic Ruling: Córdoba must clean up Lake San Roque
As detailed by Fundeps, “the ruling recognizes the serious environmental damage and orders the Executive Power to take immediate, comprehensive, and sustained measures to guarantee the right to a healthy environment and protect the water resource on which millions of people depend.”
Fundeps considers this ruling a “historic milestone for Argentine environmental justice.”
The ruling acknowledges the existence of serious environmental damage. It also holds the provincial government and local authorities accountable for “action and inaction.”
In this regard, it mandates urgent, structural, and sustainable measures to guarantee the right and protect the water resource that supplies water to over a million people.
“This ruling marks a before and after. It recognizes that there is an environmental and health crisis affecting fundamental rights; it highlights the urgency of acting collectively to stop the deterioration of an ecosystem vital for Córdoba and demands urgent, coordinated, and transparent responses from the authorities,” stated Mayca Balaguer, executive director of Fundeps to ctaacordoba.
“Furthermore, the Justice emphasizes the value of citizen participation. It is a collective triumph for the environment and the health of thousands of people,” she added.
Specifically, the ruling demands the effective implementation of the “Sanitation and Sustainable Development Plan for Lake San Roque,” requested in the precautionary measure and submitted by the Province of Córdoba during the course of the case.
In this sense, it specifies a series of provisions that must be incorporated within a 30-day period.
Measures required by the Court
Among the urgent provisions, it establishes the immediate cessation of polluting discharges and intensive monitoring, with penalties for non-compliance.
Additionally, it sets as a mandatory goal the sewer coverage, with at least 85% of the population in the basin connected to the network within an eight-year period.
“In this way, the original timeframe proposed by the Government is drastically reduced: 50% coverage in 15 years,” highlighted Fundeps.
According to the ruling, the Province is obligated to guarantee the right to water and a healthy environment and, therefore, must “cooperate technically, operationally, and financially with municipalities and communes” in one of the most important measures to achieve the basin’s sanitation: sewage distribution networks.
The ruling establishes, among other points:
– Reformulation of the Plan within 30 days, aligning it with criteria of comprehensiveness, transparency, environmental urgency, and active participation.
– Mandatory technical audit within a maximum period of 6 months, assessment of progress, indicators, and compliance.
– Creation of a public digital platform within 90 days, accessible and adapted for people with disabilities, with real-time updates on the Plan’s status and an open channel for citizen proposals.
– Sustained environmental education campaign throughout the basin territory, with a community and territorial focus.
– Direct participation of citizens, social organizations, and the academic sector in the planning and monitoring of the process.
