Articles

Heads up if you're in San Joaquín or Narancay: ETAPA is cutting water service this Thursday afternoon. No specific hours given (classic ETAPA), so fill your tanks now. Here's the full list of affected neighborhoods and what to do.

It's bad out there. Both the Cuenca-Girón-Pasaje and Cuenca-Molleturo highways are closed from landslides. The Tomebamba and Tarqui rivers are on pre-alert. A woman in Camilo Ponce Enríquez died in a landslide Tuesday night. Here's the full road map of what's open, what's closed, and how to stay safe.

Over 21,000 people have been affected by flooding across 24 provinces since the rainy season kicked off January 1. But there's an upside expats will appreciate: the reservoirs feeding Ecuador's hydroelectric plants are filling fast, making a repeat of 2024's devastating blackouts increasingly unlikely.

ETAPA EP, Cuenca's water utility, is hosting a month of events to celebrate World Water Day. Highlights include the launch of a new water quality monitoring system on March 12, a family gathering at the Botanical Garden on March 22, and a 6K race through the city on May 31.

The Policía Nacional has established a fixed security operation in Sayausí, the western Cuenca parish that serves as the gateway to Cajas National Park. It comes after the municipality donated over $500,000 to bolster police resources in the area.

Residents in Barabón Chico are still cleaning up from last week's flooding — and INAMHI says the rains are coming back next week. Here's what you need to know about the forecast, the damage so far, and how the city is preparing.

What started as a festive Carnival Saturday turned dangerous fast. Intense afternoon rains on February 14 and 15 flooded at least 15 neighborhoods, damaged homes in Barabón Chico, and sent emergency crews scrambling across western Cuenca. Meanwhile, in Cajas National Park, lightning struck four hikers on Cerro San Luis.

The City Council approved a one-time exception letting inherited rural properties subdivide below the legal minimum lot size. New floor: 120 square meters. Pilot starts in Llacao, then expands to all 20 rural parishes.

ETAPA just graduated 350 community forest brigaders trained to defend the páramos and watersheds that supply every drop of Cuenca's tap water. After last year's fires scorched thousands of hectares, this volunteer army could be the difference between clean water and crisis.