The Guarani Aquifer is a huge system of Triassic-Jurassic sandstones (mainly of Aeolian origin) underlying more than 1 million km2 of Brasil (62% of area), Paraguay Uruguay & Argentina – with around 30,000 km3 of fresh groundwater in storage, a current rate of exploitation of just over 1 km3/a (94% in Brasil) and major potential for municipal and industrial water-supply, supplementary irrigation and hydrogeothermal resources (reaching 40-60 C in its more deeply-confined sections).
The quality of groundwater recharging the aquifer is threatened in some areas by rapid land-use changes (from natural forest to arable soya-bean cultivation), and locally by rapid urbanisation – but only very locally are there indications of excessive groundwater abstraction (eg. Ribeirao Preto-Brasil) or transboundary groundwater resource or quality dimensions (eg. Rivera-Uruguay/Santana do Livramento-Brasil, Ponta Pora-Brasil/Pedro-Juan Caballero (Paraguay), Concordia (Argentina)-Salto (Uruguay).
The Spanish version.
In Cost Rica, the application of water use levy has a long history. A Water Law from 1946 stipulated that all water use concessions granted must commit to paying a levy as compensation for using a public domain commodity. However, the water use levy was disproportionately low, many exemptions were applied and the enforcement was weak. Having a positive experience of the application of Payment for Environmental Services scheme, the Costa Rican Government took a decision to revise the system of water use levy.
The Spanish version.
La Poza microbasin is situated in the southwestern part of El Salvador bordering the Pacific Ocean. The basin has an area of 10.4 km2 and its altitude ranges between 1424 m and 89 m above sea level. The issues in the basin included deforestation caused by, among others, slash and burn practices and increased pressure on land for agriculture. Deforestation has caused changes in flow variations and occasional drying out of rivers and streams, seriously affecting water supply for domestic use, livestock and agriculture. Changes in vegetation cover have caused increased soil erosion with negative effects on reservoirs and soil productivity. Rising level of pollution have occurred as a result of agrochemicals, sewage and solid waste entering surface waters.
In the La Poza microbasin indifference has typically prevailed towards natural resources preservation. Prior to the intervention described below, neither the Ministry of Public Health, the Municipality, national law enforcement officers nor academia had the required awareness on use, development, conservation and protection of the water resources. There was lack of political will and the population in general was unaware of water resources issues. The absence of a legal framework for implementation of integrated water resources management (IWRM) was an additional constraint as was the lack of financial and human resources.
The document is in Spanish.
This paper (3.95 MB) argues that water resources management should be a focus for climate change adaptation and that IWRM is the most suitable approach to adaptive action. It outlines the likely social, economic and environmental impacts of climate change; the challenges climate change poses for water resources management; the actions needed to address those challenges – investments in infrastructure, institutions and information; and approaches to financing IWRM for adaptation.
The Spanish version.
The overall purpose of the GWP/INBO handbook is to provide a practical guide to practitioners for the application of IWRM principles and practices at the river basin, lake and aquifer level. The handbook was launched at the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul (March 2009).
