Lake Titicaca is known for its beauty and for being the highest navigable lake in the world, where it is possible to observe a great array of flora and fauna typical of the area.

In the last few years, the water resources (rivers, streams and lakes) of the region have suffered a process of gradual pollution, which especially affects families living in the Bahía de Cohana (Cohana Bay), situated on the shore of Lake Titicaca

The pollution originates from two main sources: firstly, industrial and domestic waste streams from the cities of El Alto, Viacha and Laja, which are transported to Lake Titicaca by the River Katari and its tributaries; and secondly, intensive cattle rearing activity in the Bahía de Cohana area.

In this context, and with the objective of contributing to the reduction of the pollution in the region, USAID/Bolivia has initiated the El Alto-Lake Titicaca Pollution Management Activity, which aims to contribute to the improvement of the environmental quality in the El Alto-Lake Titicaca corridor, reducing the impact on the environmental health and biodiversity of the project area.

The area in which the project works extends from El Alto to Lake Titicaca, encompassing the municipalities of Viacha, Laja, Pucarani and Puerto Pérez.   The project will carry out its activities over a 5-year period thanks to the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In order to achieve its goals, the project is structured into three components:

• "Prevention of industrial and urban pollution", which focuses on mitigation of the above-mentioned pollution sources, through interventions in the activities which have the greatest impact on the bodies of water in the Katari river basin.
   
• "Integrated natural resource management", which works on developing sustainable uses of the natural resources found in the Katari river basin.
   
• "Communication and citizen participation", which develops activities which promote the involvement of the affected sectors of society, as well as working on communication, dialogue and decision making to achieve behaviour changes which promote practices aligned with pollution prevention.