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ABOUT THE CREEK The Limas Creek (Quebrada Limas) is a small but significant tributary of the Tunjuelo River, which in turn flows into the larger Bogotá River, one of Colombia’s principal waterways. Located within Ciudad Bolívar the poorest administrative district of Bogotá Limas Creek represents both an ecological and social frontier in the city’s southern periphery.
The Tunjuelo River originates in the wetlands of the southern Bogotá Savanna, remnants of the ancient Lake Humboldt, and follows a general south to north flow through the city. The Limas Creek, arising from the northern slopes of Ciudad Bolívar, converges with the Tunjuelo River as it continues downstream, forming part of a broader hydrological network that ultimately drains into the Bogotá River basin.
This interconnected system illustrates the layered and entangled nature of Bogotá’s urban hydrology where geography, ecology, and social inequality intersect within the city’s most marginalized landscapes.
Pollution and waste | An Interpretation by the Creek The Quebrada Limas River (Limas Creek) in Bogotá, Colombia, suffers from severe pollution caused by the indiscriminate dumping of solid waste and the discharge of untreated domestic and industrial wastewater from surrounding informal urban settlements. In the vicinity, several waste management facilities, such as the Recicladora Los Sauces site, operate close to the creek, intensifying its exposure to contamination.
While infrastructural development in nearby areas can be mapped clearly, its distribution remains uneven the regions adjacent to the creek reveal a stark lack of basic infrastructure and environmental management. However, this absence does not always correlate directly with infrastructural “need,” but rather reflects complex socio-political and spatial inequalities in the city’s urban fabric.
According to Lucci (2025), the situation is exacerbated by a lack of environmental education and awareness among residents in low income neighborhoods, leading to the habitual use of the creek as a dumping ground for domestic waste. Furthermore, major rivers such as the Tunjuelo River, from which Quebrada Limas originates, are directly connected to Bogotá’s sewage system, further contaminating the city’s waterways.
As a result, the Quebrada Limas and other rivers like it become both victims and witnesses of the city’s waste crisis, bearing the material traces of urban neglect and ecological degradation. This condition underscores the urgent need for local stewardship and collective reinterpretation of these waterways not merely as polluted channels to be managed, but as living systems whose restoration could reframe the city’s relationship with its hydrological and ecological networks.