A Bolivian water law that coincided with the privatization compounded the conflict, serving to restrict access to water people had always used. As Berger points out, much of what people were protesting had as much to do with the law as with Aguas del Tunari. After a dramatic and deadly five month struggle Aguas del Tunari left, the Bolivian government handed over the city's water system to a public board that includes representatives elected by the people, and the government passed a new water law that helps keep common water sources in common hands, as Olivera puts it.