Summary
In 2019, Fanny Jacqueline Realpe Herrera, common attorney for several residents of the commune Julio Moreno and the San Vicente de Aquepi enclosure, presented protection action against the National Secretariat of Water (SENAGUA) and the Provincial Decentralized Autonomous Government of Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas (GAD provincial). The plaintiff alleged that the allocation of water from the river Aquepi by GAD provincial was done so in a quantity that exceeds the ecological flow in dry season, and this violated the rights to health, water, enjoy a healthy environment, legal security, prior consultation with the community and rights of nature. The judge rejected the protective action, and the case eventually made its way to the Constitutional Court of Ecuador. The court declared that the Ministry of Water violated the rights of the Aquepi River and recognized that the Aquepi River is subject and holder of the rights recognized to the nature and has the right to have its structure and operation respected affect its flow. The Court declared that SENAGUA and GAD provincial must order a technical and impartial audit to be carried out to make the necessary corrections to ensure the rights of the river; carry out new and comprehensive studies necessary to determine the average flow, structure, functions, and life cycle of the Aquepi River; take all the necessary measures for the creation of a hydric protection area in the Aquepi River and of a conservation and preservation plan for the river; and apologize to the inhabitants of Julio Moreno Espinosa and San Vicente de Aquepi.