"LETICIA, Colombia The jungle town of Leticia provides Colombia's only access to the Amazon River. But as the river changes course the town could soon be left high and dry and that's fueling a border dispute with neighboring Peru. Drought, sedimentation and meandering by the world's second largest river are gradually pushing the waterway farther south into Peru and away from Colombia."
"Alarmed residents point out that, although Leticia has an airport, there are no highways connecting this town of 55,000 people at the southern-most tip of Colombia to any other region of the country. Most food and other supplies arrive here via Amazon River boats from Peru and Brazil. "We depend on daily trade between the three countries to survive," says Santiago Duque, a biology professor at the Leticia branch of Colombia's National University. "The river is essential.""
"As the water recedes, Leticia's cargo wharf has been extended several times to reach the river. But during dry season it sits on dry land, rendering forklifts and other machinery useless. On a recent morning, sweaty workers unloaded cargo boats by hand, carrying crates of beer, sacks of rice, and bags of flour on their shoulders 100 yards up the muddy riverbank to trucks waiting on the wharf. All this slows trade and drives up costs."
The Amazon River's changing course, driven by drought, sedimentation and meandering, is gradually pushing the waterway south into Peru and away from Leticia, Colombia. A Colombian Navy study predicts Leticia could become landlocked within five years. Leticia lacks highways and depends on river transport from Peru and Brazil for most food and supplies. The town sits at a triple frontier with Peru and Brazil and relies on daily cross-border trade. Receding water has forced repeated extensions of the cargo wharf, leaving it on dry land during the dry season and forcing manual unloading, slowing trade and raising costs.
Read at www.npr.org
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