The Regional Autonomous Corporation of Colombia (CAR) has relied on Watermaster technology to carry out recovery work on the lagoon complex formed by Fúquene, Cucunubá and Palacio east of the Andes. The Fúquene lagoon, about 30 km2 in extension, is located between the Cundinamarca and Boyacá departments, at an altitude of 2,540 meters, about 80 km from the city of Bogotá, forming a natural space of great environmental and socioeconomic importance.
The CAR manages an investment budget of some 36 billion Colombian pesos (approximately 10.6 million euros), allowing for a contract for the purchase of three Watermaster Classic V units, among other machinery. The objective is the environmental recovery of the lagoon, which has been affected in recent years by the accumulation of sediments from agricultural, mining, urban, industrial and natural activities within this river basin. Around 6,700 tons of sediments are deposited every year in this water body, adding to other problems such as eutrophication, as well as the uncontrolled propagation of the water hyacinth.
With this purchase there are already four Watermaster V machines in the area. One of them is carrying out recovery work in the Fúquene lagoon. The remaining three, arriving shortly to the CAR territory, will be used to advance operational testing and training in this lagoon during the second half of 2018, since their ultimate allocation will be to care for wetland restoration and maintenance throughout the jurisdiction of the Corporation.
The recovery and cleaning teams seek to increase with these works the regulation capacity of this water body against potential flooding, managing storage volume, improving water quality and making a suitable lagoon space available for various activities, contributing to ecosystem balance in the area. These environmental regeneration works are aimed to optimize the tasks that were previously carried out by four similar machines with very limited operational capacities. With the acquisition of these three new ecodredges, work will also be carried out in the cleaning of urban canals, the removal of litter and vegetation, and the inertization of contaminated sediments. Many families of fishermen and indigenous communities, as well as agents from the tourism sector, agribusiness operators and other economic agents working in the area will benefit directly from the regeneration of this important wetland.
The Watermaster V technology has been developed to efficiently carry out the cleaning of rivers, banks, lagoons and other shallow wetlands. A wide range of tools and accessories can be quickly interchanged depending on the requirements of the different environments where the dredge operates, allowing for great operational versatility. Watermaster is capable of autonomous navigation, facilitating access to otherwise unreachable areas, and carries out efficiently and carefully piloting, excavating, raking and suction dredging works in waters with a maximum depth of 6.5 meters.