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INCREASING ARABLE SOILS THROUGH IRRIGATION: The OLMOS project, LAMBAYEQUE, PERU

Since before Inca times (XV-XVI centuries), the Peruvian people, constrained by the Central Andes’ geographical characteristics, have sought to control water for agriculture.

Perú climate zones: Coast, Sierra and Forest

Irigation channel in the Inca settlement Tipón, Cuzco

In the centre-west of South America, Perú has three clearly defined climate zones:

• The coast is a 50-100 km-wide desert strip extending between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes mountain range, up to an altitude of 500m. It accounts for 11 per cent of the country’s area but concentrates 65 per cent of the population. The climate is very dry, though the soils are adequate for cultivation if irrigated.
• The Sierra is dominated by the Andes, with elevations ranging from 500 to 6,780 meters. Including deep valleys and high plateaus (altiplanos) it occupies 30% of the country area, 70 % of it over 3,000 m high. It has a distinct wet season -December to March- and a dry one with sunny days and very cold nights;
• The forest is on the eastern side of the Andes, with water draining into the Atlantic Ocean through the Marañón and Amazon basins. Ranging in altitude from 1000 to 800 m, most of the lower regions are unexplored, impenetrable tropical forest.

This geography dictates that only 6% of the country’s land area can be cultivated. Despite this fertile land shortage, Peru produces in abundance three of the most important human food crops: potatoes on the coast and in the sierra, maize in the sierra and forest, and rice in the coast and forest zones. There are also excellent conditions for harvesting wheat (in the Andian valleys), vegetables (asparagus, onions, tomatoes, avocado), tubers (sweet potato, yucca), pulses and beans, fruit (650 species including mango, banana, grape and lemon), industrial crops (sugar cane and sugar beet, coffee, cotton), high protein Andean grains (quinoa, maca, tarwi) and coca leaves.

Irrigation has always been a crucial factor in the growth and development of rural areas and in human development. However, most existing irrigation (92%) relies on surface water distributed through inefficient systems: old channels, leaky distribution systems, and outdated gravity or flooding practices. This combination leads to significant water inefficiency and increased soil salinisation due to under-irrigation.

The government has directly invested in irrigation projects for many years, with meagre results. Nowadays, it focuses on PPP (Public-Private Participation) projects, such as Chavimochic (La Libertad, operational since 2006), Olmos (Lambayeque, operational since 2014), Majes-Siguas II (Arequipa, under construction), and others. The aim is to incorporate 300,000 new cultivable hectares by 2021. The general scheme calls for private investors to build the infrastructure in exchange for the operation (water, energy, and roads) rights collected over a set number of years, after which the works will be administered by a governmental entity.

THE OLMOS TINAJONES SPECIAL PROJECT

In November 2014, President Ollanta Humala inaugurated water operations of the Olmos project that will irrigate 38,000 new hectares and 5,500 hectares belonging to traditional communities with water derived from the Huancabamba and Tabaconas river basins across the western Andes mountain range. Furthermore, the water descent will be crossed by two dams for hydroelectric power generation. The project includes construction of a new 60,000 people city –to be called Engineer Charles Sutton, in homage of the author of the first Olmos project and father of Peruvian irrigation- and industrial park, still in the design development phase. In the posterior stages, the same water derivation will irrigate additional hectares in Olmos and Alto Piura.

Lambayeque province, situated 900 km from Lima, is part of the North Economic Corridor, a multimodal logistics project aimed at developing the northern Amazonía, Sierra, and coast regions and integrating them with overseas markets. Olmos has good access to the Pan-American highway, leading to Chiclayo and Piura airports, and to the north, the IIRSA highway links Yurimaguas fluvial port with the Paita maritime port on the Pacific Ocean. There are projects underway to strengthen existing airport and port facilities

Localisation of the Olmos irrigation project. Source: Odebrecht Peru

The region has conditions favourable to agriculture, with a dry subtropical climate that allows for two crops per year. Soils are sandy and loose, enriched with abundant organic material, because it is a dry prehistoric forest. There is an available workforce and a population that has traditionally been dedicated to agriculture. Nearby cities, such as Lambayeque, Chiclayo, and Piura, are expanding their education facilities to meet the expected demand for qualified personnel.

The idea of transferring water from the Atlantic basin to the Pacific basin has existed since 1922, but it was not until the 1960s that a pre-feasibility paper was approved, and the project began to be considered for combining irrigation and hydroelectric energy. The Government even began construction of the transcending tunnel in 1977, but had to abandon it because of insufficient funding. In late 1998, a private initiative project was presented, and the idea was relaunched, with a first stage divided into water transfer, energy production and irrigation components.

Olmos project: components of stage 1. Source: Proyecto Especial Olmos Tinajones

In 2004, the water transfer component was allocated for 20 years to Concesionaria Trasvase Olmos (CTO), a subsidiary of the mega engineering firm Odebrecht. The water transfer project is an engineering feat in itself, including the Limón dam (44 million cubic meters) on the Huancabamba River and a 20 km-long tunnel that transcends the river, for which a special Tunnel Boring Machine had to be fabricated. Construction was finished in 2012.

In October 2010, the Lambayeque Regional Government (GRL) signed the concession contract for the energy production component with Sindicato Energético S.A. (SINERSA). The contract includes building two dams (404 m and 472m brute fall) on the Lajas Creek and Olmos River, two tunnels connecting them, and the energy production and distribution facilities, connected to the national grid. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2015, with operations set to start in 2018.

In June 2010, the GRL adjudicated the irrigation component to H2Olmos – another Odebrecht firm – for 25 years. The contract includes the construction, operation, and maintenance of an irrigation system covering 43,500 hectares. The works include 2 water intakes on the Olmos river, 2 sand decanters, a regulating 800,000 m3 water dam, 13 km open air channels, 2 km tunnel channels, 50 km pressurised water distribution tubes, 85 km electrical lines and 150 km access and service roads as well as the automated systems that regulate water distribution in accordance with user needs.

In 2012, the 38,000 hectares in the New Valley were auctioned in lots ranging from 250 to 1,000 hectares, with pressurised water intakes, electricity connections, and access roads. The land was acquired by 11 firms, most notably the Peruvian industrial conglomerate Gloria Group (4,500 ha), Azucarera Olmos (a Gloria Group sugar production firm, 11,100 ha), and Mirabilis/Parfen S.A. of Uruguay (4,000 ha). Land not sold in auction (11,500 ha) was adjudicated directly to Odebrecht Latinvest Peru Ductos S.A., which has been selling it.

Olmos project land distribution. Source: Proyecto Especial Olmos Tinajones

Additionally, 5,500 irrigated hectares in Valle Viejo were reserved for local producers with long-standing establishment in the Olmos area, notably the Santo Domingo peasant community. Lots already have access to water, and the property transfer is underway.

To date, the Proyecto Especial Olmos Tinajones official website reports that infrastructure work (levelling, irrigation, etc.) has been initiated on the inside of most of the lots, with approximately 2,200 hectares already cultivated with sugar cane, table grapes, avocados, cotton, blueberries, and peppers. Gloria Group is starting construction of a sugar factory. About 1,200 direct jobs have already been created.

Will the announced agro export development materialise? Probably, it depends on private investment. The challenge now is to attract the necessary qualified workforce and for the Government to continue building the infrastructure. Definitely, Northern Peru is an area worth watching in the next few years.

Research: Alice Bonet

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