I live in a community on the shores of Valencia Lake. It is the second most important lake in our country, my beloved Venezuela. However, although it is the potential reservoir of fresh water for the central zone of our nation, it has a high level of eutrophication, a systemic problem that involves a large number of factors that degrade the environmental quality of our lake.

Valencia Lake is a body of surface water, with no outlet to the sea; therefore, it forms an endorheic body with a maximum depth of 43 meters during the rainy season, covering a surface of 391 Km². The lake is fed by 21 tributaries. All rivers, spouts and canals drain into the lake, forming the Valencia Lake Basin. It is an endorheic basin shared by Aragua and Carabobo states, with a total surface area of 3140 Km²

Valencia Lake basin is formed by a depression between the Coastal Mountain Range and the Interior Mountain Range, occupying a tectonic depression whose limits are: to the North, the southern slope of the Coastal Mountain Range; to the South, the northern slope of the Interior Mountain Range; to the East, the Tuy River Basin; and to the West, the Pao River Basin.

The reservoirs that are in the Valencia Lake Basin are Zuata and Taiguaiguay. Zuata reservoir is geographically located in the Bolívar municipality of Aragua state. Taiguaiguay reservoir is located in the Zamora municipality of Aragua state. These are wetlands of anthropogenic origin, i.e., constructed by humans for irrigation purposes. They are also currently in a state of eutrophication.

Güey
El Limón
Maracay
Aragua
Magdaleno
Turmero
Los Guayos
Mariara
Ereigue
Güigüe

Spouts and Canals

Central Spout
La Negra Spout
El Nepe Spout
Los Dividive Spout
Tocorón Spout
Aparo Spout
Corpoindustria Canal
Papelera Canal
Sudamtex Canal

_{Valencia Lake}

According to definition

"Lakes are bodies of water surrounded by land. They can be very different from each other, presenting variations in salinity, currents, temperature, dissolved oxygen content and types of predominant organisms, among other characteristics, depending on various factors such as climate and the composition of the waters of their tributaries"

Taking into account the above definition, as a researcher of this natural physical space, I express my opinion regarding the environmental quality of Valencia Lake.

"This body of water has high concentrations of dissolved salts and, due to its level of eutrophication, the availability of dissolved oxygen both at the surface and at different depths is very low. All these values have been determined "in situ" and at the level of laboratory analysis for the physical, chemical and bacteriological characterization of waters lake. This body of water has been arduously studied. However, Valencia Lake is the consequence of the structural dynamics and ecological imbalance in the basin, no isolated solution will solve the imbalance and therefore the environmental problems in Valencia Lake. We must assume a solution, with a systemic approach, from each territorial space of the basin since the structural dynamics of the entire basin as a whole affects this body of water"

@marlenyaragua

Valencia Lake is in the central area of my beloved Venezuela, therefore it is in the area where there is a higher population density and consequently there is a higher growth of inhabitants. This determines that the water consumption per person will be much higher every year. In addition, there are agricultural production areas near the lake that require water for the management and production of agricultural products. In addition, in the central zone there is also an industrial area that consumes water. For all of the above reasons, in order to drive the productive apparatus of the area and supply water for human consumption, the vital water resource is required and Valencia Lake must be bioremediated so that it can supply the vital liquid in the future. Our lake is a potential water resource that requires a substantial investment for its sanitation and the participation of all social actors settled in the territorial space.