The lowland valley of Chancay-Lambayeque watershed is scarce of water resources. Farmers cultivated their fields with water abstracted from nearby waste water collectors. This source of irrigation was rich in nutrients. However, these practices imposed health risks to local farmers caused be a contamination of food production by insufficiently treated waste water. The situation worsened in the years 1983-84, with cholera epidemic. Authorities took advantage of this opportunity to move local community. Facing this situation the farmers undertook the struggle for: a) remain in the area, community land, and b) that treated waters were used for agricultural production instead of forestation, as Chiclayo Municipality proposed. The Spanish version.

Approximately 20 million people or 1/3 of the rural population of Brazil have no access to basic services such as safe drinking water and sanitation facilities. The National Health Foundation reported that in 2007 only 28% of the rural population was connected to a drinking water supply and the connection to a sewage system was 22%. Rural water supply and sanitation made no progress in Brazil in the last 30 years, not only as a result of limited funding and political will, but also due to inefficiency in the resources allocation, and absence of regulations and long term planning. In general, due to financial costs and operational complexity, Brazilian state water companies offer their services to urban areas and do not include rural and small communities as objects of their business. The Spanish version.

The intensity and increased number of natural disasters in El Salvador have resulted in increased needs to invest into emergency care and rehabilitation. The country is also facing the challenge of overcoming inadequate management of natural resources, including water. Coupled with the impacts of climate change, this is contributing to increased levels of vulnerability of the people To tackle these challenges, the Municipality of San Pedro Masahuat has installed an Early Warning System which has a significant impact in improving the lives of the inhabitants. This has been possible through awareness raising, education and the commitment from organizations to address issues of climate change related vulnerability challenges. The document is in Spanish

Spanish version: This paper provides an overview of the current situation in patterns and drivers of intensive groundwater use, the ways in which sustainability can be improved in “groundwater-only” irrigation areas and conjunctive use in major alluvial canal commands, and considers the future outlook.

Spanish version: This paper considers what we have learnt about our water challenges since 1992 and suggests key interventions to help communities and countries to achieve the goal of water security.

This Policy Brief summarizes the key messages towards the Rio+20 Conference. These messages derive from GWP work and experiences and include: the crucial role of water as a key driver in the green economy, the need for building more effective institutions to manage water better, especially at transboundary level, the ongoing need for integrated approaches, ensuring water security for the economy, for society and for the environment, and the political leadership and vision essential for overcoming fragmentation. The Spanish version.

The experience gained under existing transboundary cooperation agreements for many transboundary basins, allow today saying that Integrated Water Resources Management works well on the basin-scale of transboundary rivers when there is a real willingness of the stakeholders concerned. How then to move from theory to practice to implement transboundary cooperation on water? How can you possibly establish an effective and lasting transboundary basin organization? To support this process, INBO, GWP together with other knoweldge partners (UNECE, UNESCO, GEF, EVREN and AFD) have worked together to produce this book presented at the World Water Forum in Marseilles (March 2012). The document is in Spanish.

Spanish version: Water is not just part of the economy; it is embedded within the economy. Without it the economy could not function. Thus water will be central to the innovative thinking and effective solutions required to establish the green economy. In this paper (6MB), GWP sets out the case for an IWRM approach to water security and its potential to lead the process of ‘greening’ the world’s economies.