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Electronic Forum: "INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT OF ANDEAN WATERSHEDS" |
Luis Soberon
Tematic Moderator
The present document summarizes the covered and discussed main points of the Forum regarding the topic: "social and institutionalization aspects" in the integrated management of Andean watershed. The list of the presented cases and the list of participants who contributed to the discussion is included at the end of this note.
The results of the Forum can be organized around the following points:
A. Complexity and degree of the approximation to an integrated watershed management
This idea is well illustrated by the case of the Cuenca of Cotahuasi (Arequipa, Peru) presented by Manuel Tejada. In the "integrated" notion the traditional vision surpasses the restricted basin vision, limited to its hydrographic dimension. But that it is encompassed with the integrated vision, not only regarding the possible uses of the water, but also regarding the involved social actors, and the aspects of governance, it is something that varies from case in case, and in every case an open process is given.
B. The conflicts between mining and agriculture
It presents a conflict among mining companies that under their strategies of control of the resources try to capture the water sources. In its strategies they seek support of the governmental entities and also the purchase of properties and displacement of the farmers. A complementary problem is the negative environmental impact that lead to the loss of valleys, and also to the water pollution of the rivers. This situation is shown in the cases of Moquegua (Peru) presented by Narda Rejas and the reference that Mario Ardón made on similar situations in Honduras, it would be necessary to see the evolution of the case of Cañete (Lima, Peru) presented by Elise Besson. Actually it concerns a conflict between actors with unequal power and unequal access to the official circles.
C. Conflicts over the urban pressure on the water sources
The urban growth, especially of the large cities, adding pressure on the water sources for domestic and industrial uses. Also, included here is the problem of the treatment of excreta and industrial residues that contaminate the sources of water and environment. The valleys near to the cities are being affected in their water provision and finally urbanized. The cases that illustrate this problem are those of the City of Santiago, Chile presented by Hugo Romero, the case of Moquegua presented by Narda Rejas, and the reference that Christian Cruz makes on Mexico City.
D. Integrated watershed management and governance
An integrated management of the watershed implies not only a systems perspective on the basin and the micro-watershed (articulating the physical, biological, ecological, social, cultural, and political elements), but also coming to regulations and to mechanisms of coordination and consensus- building with the involved actors. The stated experiences and the debate offers us a quite complex panorama, with different processes of generation of institutional structures, and with unresolved conflict situations.
The fresh water is today, in the planetary dimension, one of the critical resources for the sustainable development, and on which have been increased competitive uses, specific interests to control its sources, and the open conflicts. Water management is part of a broader and general problem of governance.
In the Cotahuasi case, we observed the generation of several organizational entities that contribute to the management of the basin (spaces of provincial consensus-building, spaces of consensus-building at district level, end-users, irrigatin committees, municipal governments, farmer organizations). But it is not completely clear how all these entities articulate in what could be an institutional system of integrated management of the basin, of the micro- watershed, it is something that is still presented very diffusely. We are in light of a quite opened process at its initial phase.
Another key aspect proposed (as question) in the Forum has been concerning the long-term sustainability of these institutional mechanisms.
In Mexico, according to the case study presented by Juan Antonio Casillas, there is already available a National Plan of Microcuencas. The presented data indicate a successful progress in the implementation of this plan. The central, or at least very important idea is the direct relationship of the management of the micro-watershed with the establishment of a Regulating Plan for Production and Conservation. It would be interesting, in contrast with the case of Cotahuasi, to learn about the institutional and organizational environment of the Mexican watersheds.
E. Participation and cooperation of the involved actors
Through the debate in this Forum, a point of concern has been the participation of the different social actors, and the possibilities of establishing efficient cooperation processes. The actors who appear in more vulnerable positions are the small farmers. The case of Cañete (Lima , Peru) presented by Elise Besson shows us quite serious difficulties in this field: the irrigation committees are not identified with its official representative structures, there is little collaboration among the actors from different sectors.
F. Main concerns from the debate
Below we present a set of issues arisen from the debate that should be considered in our work agenda:
How can an environmental monitoring
system serve as support to legal regulation strategies, and to schemes of
protection of the biodiversity and water resources regarding the mining
pressure and other risks?
What role are fulfilling the
governmental entities of environmental protection?
Which are the strategies of the mining
companies, industrial, tourist, etc., providing urban services in order to
ensure some control over the water resource?
How are the culture and lifestyle of
the communities being affected by the mining companies?
At the institutional plane, how
articulates the micro, Middle and macro political levels with respect to the
integrated management of the water resources and the comprehensive
management of basins and watersheds?
The need for more knowledge and
information about the relationship between poverty and loss of the hydric
sponge and deforestation.
How is being given the dynamic in the
processes of development (moving from agriculture to ecotourism, the load of
the agroindustry, the ecological agriculture and the eco-businesses, etc.)
and how are these processes related with the organizational, social and
institutional processes, and with the integrated management of the basin?
How is the integrated management of the
basin included in the vision- building of a development process (in the
national, regional, and micro- rregional level)? Which actors especially
participate and influence the definition of such visions?
How to integrate in a broader
perspective the management of basins and micro-watersheds with the
environmental management?
Which are the social and institutional
arrangements that better results provide for resolution of conflicts and in
the establishment of good cooperation relations?
Is it possible to arrive at a
regulation that would be accepted and respected by all the involved actors,
shortening the gap between the regulations and the efficient behavior?
Which is the degree of knowledge and
awareness that exists about the risk of the urban catastrophes (as a
consequence of the pressure and control over the water resource and the
contamination), and the need for a regulation and integrated management? How
to promote and develop a systemic thinking approach?
How to design and implement effective policies and integrated management systems? How to generate a new institutionalism that makes it possible to recover the hydric balances and the environmental health, and that are sustainable institutional systems? How to commit the political willingness?
Case studies presented during the first week:
"Integrated management of the
basin of the Río Cotahuasi. Arequipa"
By: Manuel Tejada, Executive Director of AEDES, Arequipa, Peru.
"Environmental management of the
Osmore-Moquegua watershed: conflicts of use"
By: Narda C. Rejas Vélez, Ilo, Moquegua, Peru.
"The National Plan of Microcuencas
of Mexico: A strategy to achieve a comprehensive regional
development"
By: Juan Antonio Casillas González, Secretariat of Agriculture, Rural
Development, Fishing. Mexico, D. F.-Mexico.
"Management of urban basins:
evaluation of the impact of the growth of Santiago, Chile on the basins of
the Piedemonte Andino".
By: Hugo Romero (and associates). Interdisciplinary Program of Master's
Degree in Management and Environmental Planning and Department of Geography
of the University of Chile.
"The effective management of the
Río Cañete watershed, Lima, Peru."
By: Elise Besson. France.
"Dynamic and flexibility of
irrigation systems in the community of Laraos - Peru",
By: Julien Leconte (Francia). Pallcamayo Watershed in Huancarama, Apurimac
(Peru). Victor A. Valdivia (Perú)
InfoAndina, 2003