Peru's foreign relations ministry has announced that the final version of a pre-feasibility study for the Puyango-Tumbes river project jointly shared by Peru and Ecuador outlines six ways to exploit the rivers for costs ranging from US$299M to US$776M.

The project aims to exploit the water resources from Ecuador’s Puyango river and Peru’s Tumbes river. Both countries will now analyse the six options to determine which best meets their needs.

Three options involve developing one dam, two include taking advantage of the natural flow of the rivers and the sixth entails building two dams. The cheapest option does not include regulating the Puyango river, and involves a single diversion dam and a transfer.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded the study, which consultancy Pacific Consult Tang International conducted, and will review it before determining whether further study is warranted.