This Patagonian village has glacier-fed rivers and majestic scenery. The only problem? Sewage

"When people in the Patagonian village of El Chalten saw untreated waste flowing into waterways and found the sewage plant was faulty, they grew increasingly concerned about the health risks from pollution in two glacier-fed rivers, the Fitz Roy and Las Vueltas. The incident in 2016 led Marie Aniere Martinez, a conservationist with the Patagonian environmental organisation Boana, and Lorena Martinez, a Los Glaciares national park official, to form a group to investigate water contamination at the Unesco world heritage site."

"Last year, they secured a landmark court ruling against water pollution in the Argentinian national park. Supported by the Escazu agreement, a regional treaty on environmental rights, residents filed a collective lawsuit, forcing authorities to acknowledge failures in waste management and commit to upgrading systems by January 2025. Yet despite this victory, the pollution persists and activists are still calling for more robust enforcement."

"Nestled in a 135-hectare (330-acre) valley in the shadow of Mount Fitz Roy, El Chalten is home to up to 2,900 people during high season in the area, which is a paradise for hikers exploring Patagonia's spectacular trails. Los Glaciares protects part of the southern Patagonian ice field a massive freshwater reservoir in South America. Spanning 600,000 hectares of lakes, forests and glacier-fed rivers, the national park includes the Las Vueltas River sub-basin, where 231 ice bodies feed the watercourses running through El Chalten."

Untreated sewage from a faulty plant in El Chaltén has contaminated the Fitz Roy and Las Vueltas glacier-fed rivers, raising health and environmental concerns. Local conservationists and a national park official formed an investigative group after the 2016 incident. Residents used the Escazú agreement to file a collective lawsuit, winning a landmark court ruling that forced authorities to acknowledge waste-management failures and commit to upgrades by January 2025. The village faces severe seasonal pressure from tourism, hosting thousands of visitors daily, which strains sanitation infrastructure. Pollution remains, and activists continue to demand stronger enforcement and remedial action.

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