====== Tunjuelo River ======

The Tunjuelo River is an important tributary of the Bogotá River, descending through southernmost city areas, such as Usme, and an essential river, though highly polluted, reflecting urban challenges - a potential resource for greenery and at the same time a target of waste. Like other rivers in the Bogotá basin, it contributes to wetlands that help manage water and regulate floods.

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(Designed by Mónica Páez Pérez and María José Castillo Ortega. Tangrama, 2014.)

It originates in the [[18|Paramo de Sumapaz]] south of Bogota and is one of the most important water sources for that city.The origins of the river hold the Páramo ecosystem is a unique infrastructure that can effectively absorb water and store it in vegetation and soil and this ecosystem consists of the [[07|Frailjones]] which establish a unique ecosystem. It then releases water slowly and steadily. At the same time, the Páramo is also the holy place of the Muisca culture. However, the ill-managed growth of the city has endangered both the river and the community and thus causes landslides, flooding, and pollution. 

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(Yu, 2023)

For half a century, Tunjuelo River has been contributing to the city's development.  At first, the Tunjuelo River worked as a portable water source. In the mid-20th century, the city extracted concrete, an important building material along the riverland. Today, it is polluted, with high rates of bad odor and water quality problems due to the [[19|unregulated effluents]] stemming from it, hence being a major focus for environmental efforts in Bogotá.
[[09|Dona Juana landfill]] has the last one of the 9 cells now, which will be used up in at most 3 years. It is polluting the environment through waste liquid and toxic gas.
The river further get polluted due to the [[38|wastewater]] outlets coming into the river. 




__References__

Waste and water pollution (2014) Environment & Society Portal. Available at: https://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/water-bogota/waste-and-water-pollution.

Yu (2023) UPPER TUNJUELO RIVER, ArcGIS StoryMaps. Esri. Available at: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7b4ba33e74cf40019e4d637e6f3ae705 (Accessed: 8 December 2025).