Placing water management on the national agenda in Nicaragua

Through GWP Nicaragua’s continual championing of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), Nicaragua formalised its commitment to IWRM principles by establishing an IWRM sub-commission, a major step in coordinating the country’s investment in sustainable water governance. In addition, GWP Nicaragua mobilised its cross-sectoral network to push for the preparation of an Action Plan for IWRM as part of Nicaragua’s commitment to build water security by implementing the Sustainable Development Goal on water.   

The Context 

Nicaragua’s water resources  

Nicaragua has an abundance of good quality water resources, but they are unevenly distributed, resulting in periods of restricted availability, particularly in the dry Central and Pacific regions. The high population density of these areas, with approximately 60% of the population concentrated in Nicaragua’s Pacific coastal strip, leads to more demand for water than there are resources available. Water is not only an important environmental asset but also a key input to agriculture, industry, and hydropower. Access to drinking water and sanitation services in rapidly growing urban areas and inequalities between urban and rural areas are challenges. Also, agricultural development of formerly forested areas has led to soil erosion and land degradation that have caused river flows to change and water quality to worsen, increasing vulnerability to the more severe storms and droughts that climate change is bringing.  

Fragmentation addressed by consolidation  

For many years, management of the country’s water resources was fragmented among several state institutions with unclear and overlapping mandates. A national water action plan, completed in 1998, reviewed policy, legislation, institutional aspects, economic instruments, and technical issues. It recommended a more integrated approach to water governance. Weak local ownership, political instability, and lack of funding delayed uptake of the recommendation.  

A specific mechanism to strengthen the institutional environment and to encourage the implementation of integrated water resources management was needed. A new water law in 2007 that incorporated IWRM and the Dublin Principles as the basis for a new regulatory framework reinforced the need for such a mechanism and, in 2010, the decentralised National Water Authority (Autoridad Nacional del Agua – ANA), with administrative and financial autonomy, was created. ANA provided a multilevel water governance approach in which decisions could be made through better participatory processes, using a strategic approach to project design and development.   

As a result, first came the National Water Resources Plan of 2017, which formed commissions to promote national planning, programs, policies, and regulations, and to guarantee the sustainable administration and operability of integrated management of water resources with a basin approach.  

Then, in November 2020, legislation to reform the General Law on National Waters was approved, in which ANA absorbed the Nicaraguan Institute of Aqueducts and INAA Sewers to create a single regulatory body for water resources at the national level.  

In the same year that ANA was created, GWP Nicaragua (the Country Water Partnership) took shape, making the most of a growing and active civil society that was tackling many of the country’s water-related issues. With 29 member organisations, including government institutions, the National Assembly, municipalities, academia, and NGOs, GWP Nicaragua quickly became a trusted advisor and facilitator for the work of the ANA.  

The partnership between ANA and GWP Nicaragua contributed to practical improvements in water management: between 2007 and 2019, Nicaragua’s urban drinking water coverage increased from 65% to 92%, and sanitation from 33% to 54%. In rural areas, too, access to services was improved with repair, modernization, and maintenance of networks that serve almost three million Nicaraguans.  

Sustainable Development Goal 6 – on water  

Further coordination was required to meet the country’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – Nicaragua’s National Development Plan listed water as a priority, following only education and health in importance. In 2019, ANA formed the Interinstitutional and Sectorial Commission for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (COMISASH) to further develop the water and sanitation sector by promoting planning among public, private, and community actors, strengthening capacities, and generating useful information.  

 GWP Nicaragua tapped into its network of partners to establish the structure of COMISASH and to encourage the inclusion of 6.5 (on water resources management) as a priority. This later culminated in the creation of the IWRM sub-commission on which GWP Nicaragua sat as one of five members on the steering committee. The IWRM sub-commission – largely the result of advocacy and networking by GWP Nicaragua – was set up by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) and included 26 entities, including central government agencies, universities, research institutes, civil society organisations, and NGOs. 

Because GWP Nicaragua was the first to introduce the principles of IWRM, it was asked to support the government in the evaluation of SDG 6.5.1 (degree of IWRM implementation), based on the instrument developed for this purpose by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The survey and workshop consultations revealed a very low level of adoption of IWRM principles in the country’s water management, findings that were presented to UNEP in August 2020.  

GWP’s support to Nicaragua’s IWRM work has influenced the government to roll out IWRM at the municipal level, provide training for SDG6 implementation, address climate change issues in the dry corridor area of Nicaragua, and support development of the constitution of the Mayales River Basin Committee, which is made up of three municipalities in the Boaco-Chontales region.  

The impetus to develop a national action plan for IWRM has been a major achievement in that it demonstrated that engagement and collaboration among stakeholders across sectors is both possible and effective.  

GWP’s work on the IWRM sub-commission has been key for universities because it has served as a link to government institutions. For a university to carry out a study in a river basin it must have the endorsement of MARENA. GWP provided the route to approval for essential work such as strengthening the resilience of ecosystems, building sustainability of livelihoods, and reducing vulnerability to the effects of climate variability and change in the Salales-Petaquilla Micro-basin.   

But perhaps most significant is that institutions have been referencing IWRM in their speeches and policy goals, giving it strategic importance. In the National Plan to Fight Poverty and for Human Development 2022-2026, the Government of Nicaragua incorporated the strategic line, ‘integrated management of water resources’, demonstrating its will to prioritise IWRM actions.  

GWP has established its role as trusted advisor, mentor, and guide in Nicaragua’s development of sustainable water resources governance. By promoting institutional interplay in the form of cooperation and coordination across sectors, stakeholder involvement, and public participation, it promotes a broader, more inclusive space for dialogue, and creates new advocacy opportunities that link national government plans and structural projects with IWRM principles.  

GWP’s activities are implemented to influence stakeholders who are instrumental in fostering improvements in water governance. Our stories of change are our vehicle to illustrate how we play a role in strengthening the management of water resources.