provide adequate treatment, therefore an expansion and upgrade to a secondary wwtp is underway and will serve the northern population in bogota city. the tibitoc water production plant, located in the suburbs of bogota, supplies almost 30% of bogota's residents. to ensure continuous water supply, a rehabilitation project of the water plant and water mains was carried out. this is a 20-year project that began in 1998. an investment of us$22 million over three years was made by veolia water solutions & technologies to rehabilitate the entire water treatment process including physical pretreatment, coagulation, flocculation, sand filtration, neutralization and disinfection. additionally, there was an investment of us$35 million to rehabilitate the tibitoc water production plant water main lines. other improvements were made to operating guidelines and the monitoring of the facility. irrigation because of the relatively high levels of precipitation, little water is needed for irrigation by farms in the bogotá region. about 6 to 7 cubic metres per second (210 to 250 cu ft/s) in total is used for irrigation. the watering of flowers in many bogotá greenhouses is one of the most important agricultural and economic activities making colombia one of the largest exporters of flowers in the world. this high-value export business has created a sustainable use for water. la ramada irrigation district is a component of an irrigation and wetland management program on the upper bogotá river. within the program, la ramada irrigation district will be expanded from 5,550 to 18,535 hectares (13,710 to 45,800 acres). la ramada is bordered to the west by the tenjo watershed, by the chicú river to the north and by the bogotá river on the eastern and southern borders. there are about 800 farmers who ensure irrigation to the land within the borders of their irrigation district, within management schemes, and along a set of water resources management criteria. hydroelectric power a complex hydroelectric system has been built, taking advantage of natural water falls or channeling and piping water to steep slopes to produce hydroelectric power. about 670 mw are now generated in the bogotá region alone. an additional 600 mw are expected to be produced by the chingaza project. the bogotá power company (emgesa) has constructed a hydropower facility (1124 mw installed capacity) downstream of bogotá to take advantage of the river flow and elevation drop. the holding reservoir for the emgesa power complex is the 853 ha muña reservoir, which is also highly contaminated. challenges and responses economic and social bogotá is the largest city and economic center in colombia. with a gross domestic product (gdp) of us$86 billion, bogotá accounts for approximately 25% of colombia's overall national gdp. per capita average income is us$10,000 making it the fifth highest in south america. at this level of income, bogotá is one of latin america's most important metropolitan areas. in general, companies locate their headquarters in bogotá because of its size, resources, and because the national stock exchange is in bogotá. bogotá is also a major center for the import and export businesses of the andes community in latin america. important industries include financial services and banking. the headquarters of multinational commercial banks as well as the banco de la república, colombia's central bank, are located in bogotá. bogotá is a center for printing and publishing, the national telecommunications network, the largest industrial facilities in the country. bogotá also houses the central governmental institutions and military headquarters, which represent another major component of the city's economy. and finally, a large and flourishing flower export trade is located in bogotá. employment trends in bogotá indicate that rates of unemployment have fallen while a growing number of citizens are looking for work. this paradox can largely be explained by ongoing urbanization into bogotá, therefore poverty remains a substantial problem. jobs have been created in some sectors, and women are gaining more opportunities for employment, but more progress is needed. overall, poverty since 1970 has decreased; however, data collected and presented in 2006 by un-habitat at the world urban forum in vancouver, canada reveal that 50% of the population still live in poverty and many of those live in slums. a separate un-habitat report from 2003 describes three types of slums in bogotá: inner-city, those lying on the perimeter, and squatter settlements. the total number of those living under these conditions is around 700,000. additional data by un-habitat shows that wealth is very unevenly distributed and that pockets of poverty exist in bogotá that are poorer than the poorest regions of the country as a whole. wastewater pollution and response the salitre wwtp has been in operation for ten years, however, the city of bogotá has not seen an improvement in water quality because 80% of the city's wastewater continues to flow untreated into the river. in december 2004, the department of planning (departamento nacional de planeación, dnp) issued a strategic planning document for the bogotá river calling for an upgrade and expansion of the salitre wwtp to a capacity of 8 cubic metres per second (280 cu ft/s) to address a portion of the remaining 80% of untreated wastewater. the plan also calls for the construction of a larger primary plant with a 14 cubic metres per second (490 cu ft/s) treatment capacity to be located downstream of bogotá. this larger wwtp called canoas will treat wastewater from the fucha, tunjuelo and soacha basins. these planned expansions to the wastewater treatment capacity are meant to address one of the biggest environmental problems facing bogotá and that is untreated wastewater entering the bogota river as it flows through the middle basin. in this section, bogotá city discharges all of its wastewater into the river through three main urban tributaries: salitre, fucha, and tunjuelo rivers. this occurs primarily by way of illegal connections to storm drains, solid waste from a growing urban population, and industries along the aforementioned urban tributaries. during the dry season, wastewater flow is about 17 m3/s while the capacity of the primary wastewater treatment plant at salitre is only 4 cubic metres per second (140 cu ft/s). as a consequence, the bogotá river is one of the most polluted rivers in the world and includes an anaerobic stretch of about 60 km. with zero dissolved oxygen and high levels of bod5, total suspended solids (tss) and fecal coliforms. in the lower basin of the city, more untreated wastewater is flushed into the bogotá river just a few kilometers upstream of the tequendama falls before it is then transferred to the muña reservoir for hydroelectric generation. consequently, tequendama falls rarely has any significant flow. eaab is financing a project to include the construction of new interceptors on the salitre and fucha rivers to transport wastewater to a new wwtp with capacity of 8 m3/s. tequendama falls on the bogotá river in early 2000, the national government developed two key policy instruments to control wastewater pollution. first, the national plan for municipal wastewater management (pmar), which provides a framework for the rapid evolution of wastewater management programs in the large urban areas. this national plan promotes coordinated wastewater management at the local, regional, and national levels by focusing on institutional strengthening and the application of existing planning tools. furthermore, it promotes the construction of wastewater treatment systems in municipalities with adequate water and sewerage service and with prioritized high impact watersheds, including río bogotá, río chicamocha, río medellin and río cauca. second, the sanitation and management of wastewater discharge plan (plan de saneamiento y manejo de vertimientos, psmv), which mandates that the service providers indicate programs, projects and activities following an implementation schedule and investment plan aimed at reducing pollution loads in receiving waters and improving wastewater collection in municipal sewer systems. psmv’s action plans are aligned with other planning instruments, for instance water quality objectives defined by the environmental authority, as well as master plans and investment plans set by the municipalities. these two national policies have been instrumental to support the recent increase of wastewater programs in large cities in colombia. urbanization many countries and major metro centers are experiencing a continuous increase in urbanization and bogotá is no exception. the population has increased from 4 million in 1973 to 6.8 million in 2006. the population is expected to reach 8.4 million by 2020. this predicted urbanization will continue to exert pressure on the infrastructures, institutions, and water resource management mechanisms that are in place. furthermore, increased urbanization implies that the construction of more drainage, wwtp, conveyance, and flood control infrastructure will be necessary. all of the housing built by new residents and the subsequent water infrastructure to support a growing population has the effect of reducing impermeable surfaces, thus adding to another one the challenges bogotá is facing, flood and stormwater control. wetlands restoration wetland of córdoba in 1950, there were an estimated 50,000 acres (20,000 ha) of wetlands connected to the bogotá river and by 2009, there was less than 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) remaining. much of the wetlands have been degraded by poor water quality. in response to the degradation of the wetlands, a strong environmental movement has emerged in bogotá that actively promotes the protection and expansion of wetland areas. in 2006, the bogotá district government passed a comprehensive wetlands management policy where the district government, eaab, and car work together to protect rivers and wetlands utilizing new regulations and environmental management programs. the basin plan for the río bogotá (pomca) established water quality standards for the river basin until the year 2020, and designates water uses through river segments and sets ambient water quality criteria of approximately 25 pollutants in order to meet the designated uses. flooding and river restoration prior to 1950, the bogotá river meandered through the middle of the basin with wide riparian areas, extensive flood plains, and thriving ecosystems such as the la conejera, juan amarillo, and jaboque wetlands. rapid urbanization has resulted in the channelization of the river, destruction of wetlands and settlements along the river making the river increasingly prone to flooding. in response, car has incorporated a flood works program to widen and protect riparian zones, restore the natural meander of the river, and hydraulically connect the river to its flood plains. in one particular component of a world bank loan (see multi-stakeholder assistance below) to car, eaab, and the district government; the flood control and environmental works project finances a comprehensive river recuperation program that incorporates best practice in urban river restoration. this component consists of improving flood control from an existing 10-25-year return period to a 100-year period, restoring part of the river flood plain, creating and enhancing wetlands and multifunctional parks, and complementing wastewater infrastructure with existing wastewater treatment when possible. the water company eaab is actively involved in a participatory program of ecological recovery of the wetlands alongside the river. program objectives include: the recuperation, protection, and conservation of wetlands; restoring the ecosystem services that these wetlands provide to biodiversity; enjoyment of these landscapes; and improved environmental education. these goals are to be met through the development of new lines of action and support from working in collaboration with the district secretary of environment, environmental organizations, and other government players. program objectives are to conform to a current framework of environmental regulations, the wetland policy set by the district capital, and the terms as defined in the ramsar convention on wetlands. specific ecosystem services provided by the wetlands that will be attained include; flood control, stabilization of biogeochemical cycles, carbon sequestration and diversification of aquatic habitats and wildlife. institutional framework the municipal government of the bogotá capital district has been involved in the mediation and delegation of responsibilities. convenio 171 was the resulting document of a judge ruling that dictated terms to both car and eaab. these two institutions agreed to terms of responsibility with the overall goal of recuperating the bogotá river and improving flood control. corporación autónoma regional (car) of the cundinamarca department is the regional environmental agency with responsibility to execute the environmental policies of the national government. more specifically, car carries out conservation, recuperation, and decontamination of renewable natural resources. empresa de agua y alcantarillado de bogotá (eaab) is the water and sewerage company of bogotá. wholly owned and operated by the colombian government, eaab has transformed from a near bankrupt company into a financially sound utility.