Changes in the New River Raises Concerns Among Tour Operators
Recent changes in the appearance of certain parts of the New River have raised concerns among tour operators in the Orange Walk District. Tour operators and tour guides who conduct boat tours along the river, told News Five that they observed a fish kill in the river late last week and today, they showed us a school of fish that were struggling to breathe. The cause of the murky and smelly water, coupled with the fishes struggling to breathe, has led the people who use the river for their livelihood to fear that it is a repeat of a few years ago when something in the river caused major ecological issues with marine life. In tonight’s episode of Belize on Reel, News Five’s Marion Ali went north today and filed this report.
Marion Ali, Reporting
The New River is defined as the longest river that is entirely confined to Belize, draining the eastern part of the Orange Walk District and emptying into the Chetumal Bay. But the river is undergoing changes once again that scare the tour operators and fishermen who rely on it for a living.
Luis Ruiz
Luis Ruiz, Orange Walk Tour Guide
“Normally the water is clear, and now since three days ago, the water is starting to get brown. Sometimes it gets very milky, so white, okay, and very smelly. And it starts exactly from where the water is coming out from.”
Tour guide, Luis Ruiz says the scent has started to affect his tours on the river.
Luis Ruiz
“Affecting my tour is when I am taking my tourists and asking me, why does the river smell like this? I mean, I need to be honest and tell them I believe it’s a pollution.”
Vladimir Novelo also uses the river to conduct his tours and he told us that even if the river is slightly polluted, when it rains, that helps to flush the pollution downstream, but because there’s been no rain lately, the smell and discoloration remains.
Vladimir Novelo
Vladimir Novelo, Orange Walk Tour Guide
“The color of the river is changing, and you can notice where it’s fresh water still and where it’s polluted water, you can see the difference. You know the polluted one is like a milky greenish color, and eventually, I would say if give it a month, month and a half, and it doesn’t rain. It’ll change that milky milk color.”
These two fishermen didn’t want to talk to us on camera but they told us they were returning home because they don’t trust the current appearance of the water and what effect that might have on the fish they catch. It is not yet known what is causing the changes in the New River, and Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, Edgar Ek explained that they are looking into it.
Edgar Ek
Edgar Ek, Deputy Chief Environmental Officer, D.O.E.
“I am not sure if there is any eutrophication that is happening; we have not getting any reports about fish kills and stuff like that. Our data from the water quality monitoring program that we are doing, we have seen improvements. And I must also caution that even though we have seen improvements, it doesn’t mean that we have changed our way of doing things, it is just that we might have had more rain so what we have been observing is that we are just transposing the problem from one area to the next.”
The Department of Environment has also obtained equipment to monitor the river and News Five will get an update from them in the days ahead. Marion Ali for News Five.
