Project NeptunoProyecto Neptuno, sometimes also called Proyecto Arazatí, is a water infrastructure development project in Arazatí, in the department of San José in Uruguay.[1] A consortium of businesses named "Aguas de Montevideo" presented the project in 2020 to create a water treatment plant that draws water from the Río de la Plata near Azaratí, to satisfy the water needs of the Montevideo metropolitan area.[2] The government water corporation, OSE, accepted the proposal, issuing a request for proposals to build the plant in November 2022[3][4] with an estimated cost of over 200 million dollars,[5][6][7] and quickly was approved with the consortium of businesses.[8][2] A 20-year cost estimate suggests that the Uruguayan government will have to pay at least 480 million dollars to maintain operations of the project.[9] The project is supposed to provide at least 30% of the metropolitan areas water demand from the Río de La Plata.[10] The process involves building a pólder and artificial lake [11] with 4.0 cubic hectometers capacity.[2] The project has been an important source of environmental conflict. Critics highlight three major issues with the project. First the environmental impact of the project was never fully evaluated.[12] The scientific community in the country, has actively disagreed with OSE's initial evaluation of the impact of the project and its potential to address the water shortages[10] And lastly, critics point to the speed and terms of the contract between the consortium of businesses and the state corporation.[13] References
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