In January 2000, communities of Cochabamba, the third-largest city in Bolivia, ran to the streets to demand access and equity in water distribution. The intense protests ended in April of the same year. 20 years later, the challenges continue and decision-makers face scenarios where water management has to meet the demand and face climate change impacts.
The Rocha River Basin, located in the Department of Cochabamba, is a very important basin in Bolivia: more than 1.4 million people live in its 3 699.9 km2 of extension, which is equivalent to 13% of the country’s population. This basin faces multiple challenges related to the sustainable management of its resources. The increased demand for water, coupled with environmental and water pollution and pressure on ecosystems had led to an imbalance, exacerbated by climate change and population growth.
It has become paramount to prioritize actions that help to solve current problems and enable conditions, contributing to the Basins sustainability and avoiding critical conditions that threaten the life of the communities and ecosystems around it.
To meet the challenges of the Rocha River Basin exists the Master Plan of the Rocha River Basin (PDCR): a guide to planning water in the short, medium, and long term. The document seeks the integration and coordination among stakeholders to restore, improve, and preserve environmental, social conditions, and productivity of the Basin.
The PDCR is a pillar of the water governance model, in a context of resilience to natural disasters and climate change, to ensure food sovereignty, access to water for human consumption, and basic sanitation that contributes to the people’s quality of life.
SEI supported the Pilot Project on Climate Resilience – PPCR in the formulation and updating of the Basin Master Plan, already developed in 2015. Regarding to the previous plan, the plan presented by SEI contributes with the following innovations:
- An update of the problems of the basin, delving into the identification of the problems through the construction and implementation of databases, analytical tools and participatory processes.
- An update of the strategic and programmatic framework, in response to the diagnosis and detailed problematization.
- A more detailed, operational, and financial plan, with indicators and implementation goals, and quantitative results in the medium and long term.
The methodology to create this document with a climate change adaptation approach had these components:
- Characterization of the Rio Rocha basin.
- Critical analysis of the state of the basin and formulation of the problem.
- Proposal of management and investment alternatives, assessed and decided in a participatory manner.
- Participatory decision making model (PDMM).
- Geographic Information System (GIS) of the PDCR and Atlas of the basin.
- Systematization of workshops and agreements.
The participation of the institutions and stakeholders was a key element, a mechanism to promote environmental governance. Those who have benefited or been affected by the decisions of the basin can become aware of the relationship between their frames of reference and those of others. This process helps to understand the differences, to encourage the sharing of ideas, allowing the building of a plan focused on cooperation and well-being.
How does the water resources system model contribute to the development of effective water planning instruments?
