Protecting the quality of water in the Orinoco River benefits a multitude of uses such as drinking water, food resources, fish habitat, recreation and irrigation. The water quality index assesses the status of water quality variables (dissolved oxygen, total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, electrical conductivity, and pH) based on data from the Environmental Information System.
How is it scored?
There are six variables included in the water quality index; dissolved 
oxygen, total suspended solids, chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen/total phosphorus ratio, electrical conductivity, and pH.
Each station has an average water quality index value. The most recent data used in the report card is from 2013, and includes the six variable water quality index scores. The scores for all stations in each basin are averaged together. This value is then converted from the condition scoring by IDEAM to the 20-point scale.