Tunjuelo River

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

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 - which urgently calls for integrated solutions in pollution control and urban integration. It also originates in the 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 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.

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 unregulated effluents stemming from it, hence being a major focus for environmental efforts in Bogotá. 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.

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).