The Laguna Parón is the largest lake in the Cordillera Blanca, in Ancash region. Situated at 4,155 metres above sea level and surrounded by snowy mountains, its turquoise waters are one of the region’s top tourist attractions. For the people living around the lake, however, it is far from being the paradise depicted in the tourist literature.

During the Fujimori regime, the waters of the lake were privatised and the concession to use them awarded to Duke Energy, a US electricity generating company. The tunnels through which water passes from the lake are used to generate electricity. For years Duke opened and closed the sluices with little or no concern for those living downstream. Some 10,000 farmers depend on Laguna Parón as their main source of water.

People complained that their crops and even their cattle were washed away when the sluices were opened; when they were closed for lengthy periods, their irrigation channels dried up and the crops withered away. In 2008, after suffering what they considered abusive behaviour by Duke, 3,000 comuneros living near to Lake Parón organised a protest march to the lake. They managed to prevail upon Duke to change the ways it manages the flow of water. They pointed out that the lake forms part of the Huascarán National Park and could not therefore be privatised.

An arrangement was finally agreed whereby any changes in the flow of water would have to be agreed upon by both Duke and the locals. To this day, the comuneros post one of their members on the hillside beside the lake to ensure this agreement is adhered to.

Now, however, the farmers living below Laguna Parón face new threats. Firstly, they are concerned that the water levels in the lake are falling, in part because of excessive use to generate electricity and in part because of the amount of water being siphoned off to irrigate large coastal plantations. Secondly, the Peruvian authorities have allowed a Vancouver-based gold mining junior, Coronet Metals, to start gold production at Yanamina, in the Lake Parón watershed. They fear that the water in the lake will become poisoned as a result.

The plight of the comuneros from Laguna Parón has been taken up by the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos and by the Catholic Comisión Episcopal de Acción Social (CEAS). They have helped the locals to fight for their rights in the courts, as well as helping to establish a task force involving the local council, the national water authority and Duke itself.