In recent years, the contamination of the Chotano river in the province of Chota has increased alarmingly. It is understood by contamination of the river to the harmful modification that suffers the fresh water. The presence of coliforms, solid waste, municipal waste, among others, are the main contaminating elements of the mentioned river. This situation has prompted the National Autonomous University of Chota (UNACH) and other universities in the region to carry out some research and propose alternative solutions.
Chota is the third province with the largest population in the department of Cajamarca Peru. Its capital Chota is located at 2388 masl on the Acunta plateau, surrounded by the San Mateo and Colpamayo rivers that form the Chotano river. Its main economic activity is agriculture and livestock. The inhabitants and producers of this province frequently use these rivers in their agricultural and domestic activities.
Beyond the technical specifications, the causes and the possible consequences that could cause the contamination of the Chotano river, the following question arises: what are the Chotanos doing to solve this problem, or at least to mitigate it? responsibility? According to a public opinion poll, some residents state that the local authorities are directly responsible for solving this problem. For their part, the authorities maintain that they cannot improve the situation of the river if the population does not get involved in it.
This work addresses precisely this dilemma that the population of Chota has been facing in the care of the Chotano river. For this, she leaned on Game Theory.
Chotano river pollution, everyone's problem, nobody's responsibility
Despite the importance of the Chotano river in the economic activity of the province, to date the attempts to solve the increasing contamination of the mentioned river are not shown. This is because there is not enough incentive in the population to take care of or stop polluting. "Why do I have to take care if others are going to continue throwing their trash," says one citizen. If the Municipality fulfilled its function, the river would not be in the situation where it is, she concludes.
According to local authorities, the construction of a sanitary landfill, as well as the implementation of oxidation ponds, the relocation of the municipal canal and the execution of sanitation projects, would solve this problem; And for this, the population needs to be involved, they emphasize. However, that would not change the situation of the river since a problem goes much further than the lack of something.
Therefore, the contamination of the Chotano river is a situation that affects everyone without anyone taking responsibility for it, reaching a situation called the maximum social damage. According to Game Theory, two or more players come to this situation when each of them takes the best strategy and that everyone knows the strategy of the others.
In the case of the contamination of the Chotano river, the best strategy that the population takes is to continue polluting, since the others will also do it. Individually, there is no incentive to care for the river because the marginal cost of doing so is much greater than the result it wants to obtain. In addition, caring for the river implies cost in terms of resources and time.
Starting from the situation that the entire population of Chotana does not get involved in caring for the river - since it is the best decision for them - what would happen if someone came out of this situation? That is, an average inhabitant decided to take care of it; making responsible use of it, delivering its solid waste to the collection truck, practicing recycling, etc., however, this measure does not solve the problem because its action is a very small portion compared to what others do (not caring).
On the contrary, if all the others decided to take care (cooperative action or act as a monopoly) and one of them decided not to, the river would no longer be polluted and everyone would benefit, regardless of what the latter does. However, this situation is unsustainable because there will always be someone to break the agreement and continue to pollute. For example, the polluter would say: "what a package of biscuit can throw into the river would not significantly harm since the rest is not polluting."
These situations are known as the Nash Equilibrium. To better understand this balance we will use the following payment matrix:
Others
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According to this matrix, all the values of the first ordered pair represent the payment for the first player (average citizen) and the second value, for the second player (the others). Payment in terms of enjoying a clean river. The question is to determine the dominant strategy for each one, that is, the decision to pollute or not to pollute.
For an average citizen. If the other inhabitants decided to take care of the river, what is the best thing to do? Since taking care has a payment of 1 and not taking care of a payment of 2. In this case, the citizen would choose the latter. On the contrary, if the others decided not to care, what is the best thing to do ?, since caring has a payment of 0 and not caring for a payment of 2. In this case, the citizen would also end up choosing the latter. Therefore, the dominant strategy for this citizen is not to care.
For everyone else. If an average citizen decides to take care of the river, what is the best thing to do? Since taking care has a payment of 1 and not taking care of a payment of 2. In this case, the others would choose the latter. On the contrary, if an average citizen decides not to care, what is the best thing that others can do ?, since caring has a payment of 0 and not caring for a payment of 2. In this case, the latter would also be chosen. Therefore, the dominant strategy for others is also not to care.
Therefore, each inhabitant is caught in the trap of not taking care of the Chotano river because it is the best decision for each one given the action of the others. Will there be any way out of this "trap"?
conclusion
The contamination of the Chotano river is a clear example of Nash equilibrium, where none of the inhabitants can get out of this situation.
We live in a world full of Nash Balances. Situation that is present not only in environmental issues, but also in business decisions, transportation, etc.
Given the current situation of the Chotano river, acting cooperatively is one of the alternative solutions. Develop articulated work between the authorities and the population, with the latter as protagonists.
References:
- Pindyck, Rubinfeld, D (2013).
Microeconomics. 8th ed. Spain: Pearson.
- Sub Management of Social Development and
Environmental of the Provincial Municipality of Chota-Cajamarca
- Epidemiology and Environmental Health Directorate of the José Soto Cadenillas Support Hospital in the city of Chota.
