The Tri-national Network for the Rescue of the Lempa River today presented the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador with a letter requesting that March 14 of each year be declared National Lempa River Day.

The Lempa River is vital and strategic for El Salvador, as four hydroelectric power plants are located along its course, producing 38% of the country's energy demand. It supplies drinking water to more than 1.5 million inhabitants of the municipalities of the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (AMSS). and more than 10,000 hectares are equipped with irrigation districts for agricultural development.

More than 4.8 million people live in its basin, of whom 3.5 million are Salvadoran citizens. Despite its vital importance, since its source in Guatemala and throughout its course through Honduras and El Salvador, the Lempa River receives discharges of sewage, waste from open-air landfills, industrial and agro-industrial waste, such as “honey” water, a byproduct of coffee processing, pesticide residues, among other types of
pollutants that deteriorate the river and the quality of this precious resource.

Given the importance of promoting serious efforts aimed at “Rescuing the Lempa River,” and given the vital importance of this basin for the ecosystems, economy, industry, energy generation, human life, governance, and governability of El Salvador, the Tri-national Network for the Rescue of the Lempa River invites your prestigious media outlet to join us in this important citizen action in favor of the rescue and recovery of such an important natural resource.

The Tri-national Network for the Rescue of the Lempa River operates under the theme of work axes, in which actions are planned that contribute to reducing problems that directly affect the Lempa River. On this occasion, Axis 3 of the Network has been announced. In this context, a piece of correspondence has been drafted which will be presented to the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador.

The Lempa River supplies drinking water to 1.5 million people in the San Salvador metropolitan area and provides 28% of the national energy demand. Its basin is home to 3.8 million people in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Despite its importance, the Lempa River is heavily polluted along almost its entire course by different sources of pollution generated in the three countries.

The Lempa River basin has a wide variety of ecosystems spread over more than 2,800 meters of altitude difference and almost 18,000 square kilometers of area distributed between Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. These ecosystems represent a large part of Central America's natural heritage, home to thousands of species that need our common commitment to the conservation of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to ensure their survival.

March 14 is World Day of Action in Defense of Rivers and Against Dams. Every year, thousands of people around the world raise their voices to celebrate the world's rivers and those who fight to protect them.

Therefore, as citizens, we join the petition of the Tri-national Network for the Rescue of the Lempa River, which requests that the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador issue a Legislative Decree declaring March 14 as National Lempa River Day, establishing that all public and private institutions promote the importance of protecting the Lempa River and its basin.

The Lempa River is life. #RescatemosElLempa

You can sign the petition at https://www.change.org/RescatemosElLempa

On November 27, 2020, the “Presentation of the Ordinance Prohibiting Single-Use Plastics” was held at the Redondel Constitución in San Salvador, El Salvador.

The Tri-national Network for the Rescue of the Lempa River operates under the theme of work axes, in which actions are planned that contribute to reducing problems that directly affect the Lempa River. On this occasion, the Network's Axis 1 addresses the problem of plastic pollution. In this context, work has been done on the first model ordinance for the regulation of plastic consumption, which will be implemented in the municipality of Candelaria de la Frontera, Santa Ana, El Salvador.

This Friday, November 27, the start of the Christmas shopping season is celebrated around the world with “Black Friday,” a day that promotes hyper-consumerism and encourages millions of people to make massive purchases that also end up generating massive amounts of waste. Especially plastic waste.

Globally, we discard 20 tons of plastic waste every minute, and each year, nearly 10 million tons of this waste ends up directly in the oceans, where it accumulates. By 2050, it is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. Currently, the plastic garbage island in the Pacific Ocean is 74 times larger than El Salvador. This is despite the fact that only 30% of the plastic in the oceans remains on the surface. The vast majority sinks to the depths or breaks down into what we call microplastics, plastic particles so small that we cannot see them with the naked eye. These plastic particles are now everywhere, in our food, our water, and even the air. It is estimated that each person consumes 5 grams of plastic per week, which is equivalent to a credit card, and a baby fed from a plastic bottle ingests 1.6 million microplastics per day. We still do not know the effects that plastics will have on our bodies, but we do know that plastics are loaded with various chemicals, and several studies have shown that the plastics we use daily contain substances called endocrine disruptors, which affect the body's metabolism, causing, among other effects, weight gain and possible effects on neurological, immunological, and reproductive processes. Equally alarming is the fact that 40% of all plastic produced is used for less than 30 days, and much of it is used for only a few minutes or hours. This is the case with bags, straws, plastic cups, and disposable cutlery.

As a result of all this evidence worldwide, processes have been initiated to regulate and ban single-use plastics. In the Central American region alone, there are subnational or national examples of regulation and prohibition in Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama. In Guatemala alone, 22 municipalities have specific bans on single-use plastics, and in Honduras there are even successful examples of bans on plastic bottles.

For many years, it has been evident to the entire Salvadoran population that our beaches, rivers, and ecosystems in general are increasingly polluted by plastics, and it is becoming increasingly challenging for municipalities to manage the large volumes of plastic generated daily. The volumes are so large that recycling is not a viable option for the proper management of this waste. Even in countries with highly advanced recycling systems, such as Germany, only 16% of plastic waste is recycled. The rest of the plastics that were separated and even reached recycling facilities end up in landfills abroad or are incinerated.  

As the Tri-National Rescue Network, we are convinced that the only way out of the plastic crisis is to prohibit single-use plastics. That is why today we have delivered and presented to COMURES a model ordinance for the regulation and prohibition of single-use plastics, which municipalities nationwide can use to begin their own processes of regulating and prohibiting these products that are causing so much damage. As a network, we are fully prepared to support municipalities that decide to embark on this path.

We invite you to make this coming Friday a green Friday and join those who are taking advantage of this moment to help the environment.

Ask yourself if you really need everything you buy. It is your right to ask manufacturers for information about production processes, but also about waste management. Every time you buy something, think about the waste and garbage it generates. No matter how small it may seem, it all adds up. Try to avoid “disposable” products and say no to plastic bags or packaging.

If you are going to buy something, take the opportunity to do so in sustainable and locally-produced stores, consume organic products, and take the opportunity to make changes in your home. Buy reusable materials that help eliminate single-use plastics from your life. Do it for yourself, for your health, for the health of your family, and for all forms of life on this planet. We recommend using natural fiber bags or reusable bags to start making changes in your daily life.