This study presents the evolution, present situation, and perspectives of the water supply and sanitation sector in Colombia. The sector is totally decentralized, given local administrators of the 1100 existing municipalities the responsibility of servicing their urban and rural populations. The government participates as a regulator and defies the sector policies. The development of the water sector in Colombia has been considerable in the last 10 years, mostly due to the new institutional and regulatory framework as defined in the Law 142 of 1994 (Ley de Servicios Publicos Domiciliares) and subsequent government decrees and resolutions by the Comision Reguladora del Agua (CRA). As for new tariffs and future of the sector, the CRA has not been able to define the new regulatory framework (nuevo marco regulatorio) which would bring a reduction in tariffs. Such reduction is unnecessary in a country where there is no regulation for the treatment of waste water disposal. This is a background document to the main report : Colombia - Recent economic developments in infrastructure (REDI) - balancing social and productive needs for infrastructure.

This study on micro water supply systems deals with the sustainability of water supply systems in multiple locations. The study was initiated in response to a request from the New Delhi office of the World Bank. The lessons learned from the study and the cases of Colombia, Peru and Ivory Coast are relevant for the design of institutional models and financial resources to supply systems for multiple sites-an option that arises when local water sources are scarce or are unsuitable for human consumption or when a system of pipes is only feasible if a group of small communities put together their resources. This field note provides some initial findings.

In this issue: Data, notes and drops -- National University of Engineering (UNI) investigation project concluded. Canadian Servicio Universitario Mundial (SUM) Canada and Peru's Asociacion de Municipalidades del Peru (AMPE) held a seminar on water and sanitation. Special -- LATINOSAN 2007 Latin-American conference regarding basic water and sanitation as a challenge for living. Lessons and experiences -- a successful case in Uchiza. Tests and debate -- the successful experience of EPILAS in creating human resources in the sector. Water chronology. Publications.

Entre os instrumentos da Política Nacional de Recursos Hídricos, a outorga de direito de uso dos recursos hídricos e o sistema de informações se destacam como os mais importantes. Enquanto a outorga visa assegurar o controle quantitativo e qualitativo das águas, o sistema de informações tem por objetivos: armazenar e divulgar informações sobre a situação qualitativa e quantitativa dos recursos hídricos; e atualizar permanentemente as informações sobre disponibilidade e demanda. A proposta de um sistema on-line para controle em tempo real dos usos múltiplos da água se traduz na operacionalização conjunta destes dois instrumentos. Confrontado a demanda por gerenciamento de grandes volumes de informação com a necessidade de análises espaciais complexas, uma nova era para a gestão de recursos hídricos torna-se possível com os avanços da hidrologia e a integração dos Sistemas de Informação Geográfica - SIG com a Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação TIC. Neste contexto, o desenvolvimento do SIGWeb AQUORA aliou os avanços da hidrologia, do geoprocessamento e da gestão da informação com o objetivo de criar um sistema fundamentado na democratização da informação, na unificação dos cadastros de usuários e na automação dos processos de outorga, respeitando os critérios definidos por cada órgão gestor. Inicialmente aplicado à bacia do rio Doce, com 83.400 km2 e três dominialidades de gestão, o trabalho foi dividido em quatro etapas: a) construção da base de dados geográficos; b) regionalização de vazões características considerando a variabilidade do regime hidrológico; c) modelagem do banco de dados para gestão dos usos múltiplos da água; e d) desenvolvimento e avaliação da aplicação SIG na Web. A base geográfica foi construída a partir do Modelo Digital de Elevação Hidrograficamente Consistente (MDEHC) e operações matriciais e espaciais envolvendo regras topológicas e redes geométricas. Após consistidas as séries históricas de 61 estações fluviométricas da bacia do rio Doce, foram ajustadas equações de regressão para as regiões hidrologicamente homogêneas e, em seguida, as vazões características sazonais foram espacializadas e ajustadas utilizando as estações como pontos de controle. O modelo de geodatabase Arc Hydro foi reformulado para adequar-se às rotinas operacionais das entidades reguladoras. O sistema cliente-servidor utiliza o SGBDR OracleXE® e o gerenciador espacial ESRI® ArcGIS Server 9.3.1. As rotinas automatizadas para análise espacial dos processos de outorga e atualização da disponibilidade hídrica foram desenvolvidas com o Web ADF para Java no Eclipse IDE. Como resultado, a base de informações geográficas caracteriza as relações espaciais entre as microbacias e a rede de drenagem, possibilitando a navegação a jusante e a montante. A base de informações hidrológicas incorporou a sazonalidade da disponibilidade hídrica às vazões de referência, flexibilizando a disponibilidade outorgável nos períodos seco, normal e chuvoso. O modelo do banco de dados garante a versatilidade do sistema de informações, pois além de permitir análises espaciais e estudos hidrológicos com o auxílio de SIG, realiza a gestão administrativa dos processos de outorga e ainda serve de base para a aplicação na internet, disponível no endereço: http://agua.dea.ufv.br/Aquora. Com as funcionalidades de consulta, cadastro de usuários, solicitação de outorga e controle dos processos, o SIGWeb AQUORA não só tem a capacidade de gerenciar os processos administrativos relativos à outorga e divulgar informações hidrológicas na Internet, mas também analisa o impacto de captações superficiais e de lançamentos de efluentes, atualizando, em tempo real a disponibilidade hídrica em toda a hidrografia. Assim, o sistema constitui uma valiosa ferramenta de gestão para harmonizar a gestão entre as agências reguladoras, padronizar as rotinas operacionais, agilizar os pareceres técnicos e ampliar a participação da sociedade na gestão dos recursos hídricos. | Among the instruments of the National Policy of Water Resources, established in Brazil in 1997, the water rights of use and information system stand out as the most important. While the permits for water rights and withdrawal work to ensure the quantitative and qualitative control and the effective rights of access, the information system aims to: collect, validate and distribute information about water resources conditions, and continuously update data about water availability and demand. Faced with the increased demand for managing large volumes of information and the need for complex spatial analysis, a new hydrology combined with Information Technology (IT) provides the integration of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) functionality, through online platforms for the management of concurrent uses of water. In this context, the development of the multi-user system was based on designing a model and loading the essential hydrological and administrative information for water resources management in a simple, online geodatabase. This geodatabase is available through a Web Service with specific routines to analyze permits processes and permanently update the water availability in river systems. Initially applied to the river Doce basin, with 83,400 skm and located in southeastern Brazil, the work was divided into four stages: a) construction of the geographic datasets; b) regionalization of seasonal streamflow and accurate GIS spatial interpolation; c)) geodatabase design and loading hydrological and administrative data and information; d) development and evaluation of the GisWeb Service. After validating streamflow records of 61 gauged stations, the average, low and high flows were regionalized with regression equations applied to hydrologic homogeneous regions. The ArcHydro Data Model was reshaped for a geodatabase designed on water management laws and operational routines from environmental agencies that permit multiple uses of water. The multi-user system called SIGWeb AQUORA uses the RDBMS Oracle® XE and the ESRI® ArcGIS 9.3 Server and manager. The automated routines for spatial analysis of procedures for granting and updating water availability have been developed with the Web ADF for Java in Eclipse IDE. As a result, the base of geographic information characterizes the spatial relationships between watershed and drainage network, allowing the upstream and downstream navigation. The hydrological database incorporated the seasonality of low stream flows to the criteria for licensing through flexible bestowable availability during the diferent periods: dry, normal and wet. The format of the database ensures the versatility of the system information, as well as allows spatial analysis and hydrologic studies with GIS, performs the administrative procedures for granting water rights and still serves as the basis for the application on the Internet, available at address: http://agua.dea.ufv.br/Aquora. With the functionalities for user registration, requests for water rights and processes control, the SIGWeb AQUORA, not only has the capability of managing the administrative procedures for the permits and provide hydrological information on the Internet, but also provides the analysis of water withdrawal or discharge impacts, updating water availability throughout the river system. Thus, the AQUORA is a potential water management tool, able to standardize operating routines and expand the society participation on the integrated water management in Brazil. | Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico

This paper is the result of a first exploration into the potential effects of sectoral policies on the water sector in Mexico. Specifically, this paper explores the possible impact on the water sector by sectoral policies regarding: legal and regulatory elements, organizations and actors, performance, information, property rights and water markets, transaction costs, economic aspects, technical aspects, environmental aspects, social aspects, and strategic and political aspects.

Honduras has collected promising and interesting experiences in common disinfection of the water supply for consumption in rural and urban communities. Honduras has been responsible for introducing and developing community technologies such as chlorination by tablet and by solar disinfection (SODIS) to substantially reduce infant deaths caused by water-borne diseases. This document includes the following headings: presentation; description of the projects; the challenge of water disinfection in Honduras; water disinfection methods in public systems; water disinfection methods at the household level; and SODIS pilot projects in Honduras.

This is a sectoral environmental assessment for the Ecuador Second Rural and Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation (PRAGUAS) Project analyzes the legal framework, which targets rural water and sanitation investments to the rural areas of cantons with populations of up to 50,000 inhabitants, and provides technical assistance to delegate these services and improve sustainability of solid waste investments in urban and rural areas. This report discusses the legal framework at the national level, analyzes sector policies and regulations, agency responsibilities and institutional capacity; focuses on typical environmental problems in the water and sanitation sector as illustrated by case and statistics; proposes an action plan to strengthen the environmental component of the project, including a series of programs that optimize environmental management; notes compliance with the public consultation requirements set in the terms of reference, and attaches annexes comprising the contractual terms of reference for the management plan and model, service operation and maintenance of water and sanitation services, among other items.

This is a sectoral environmental assessment for the Ecuador Second Rural and Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation (PRAGUAS) Project analyzes the legal framework, which targets rural water and sanitation investments to the rural areas of cantons with populations of up to 50,000 inhabitants, and provides technical assistance to delegate these services and improve sustainability of solid waste investments in urban and rural areas. This report discusses the legal framework at the national level, analyzes sector policies and regulations, agency responsibilities and institutional capacity; focuses on typical environmental problems in the water and sanitation sector as illustrated by case and statistics; proposes an action plan to strengthen the environmental component of the project, including a series of programs that optimize environmental management; notes compliance with the public consultation requirements set in the terms of reference, and attaches annexes comprising the contractual terms of reference for the management plan and model, service operation and maintenance of water and sanitation services, among other items.

Water, sanitation and hygiene are at last beginning to receive the recognition they deserve from the highest political levels. The Secretary-General of the United Nations has named water and sanitation as the first of the five key areas in which to improve the lives of all humans while protecting the global environment. Water, sanitation and hygiene are explicitly or implicitly essential for the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals. Within Africa, Ministers responsible for water have formed a standing alliance, the African Ministerial Conference on Water (AMCOW); several other regional groups, such as the Africa Water Task Force and the African Water Forum, are increasingly active. As the Water Ambassador for Africa, invited by the African Development Bank and endorsed by the African Water Task Force (at the Accra conference on Water and Sustainable Development in Africa in April 2002) and the AMCOW conference in Abuja, I am delighted to introduce this series of Field Notes and Leaflets. We face the formidable task of assisting all Africans to achieve access to safe and convenient water and sanitation services and to adopt hygienic behaviors - a task that requires both committed leadership and skilled professional work. The Water and Sanitation Program-Africa Region, with Jon Lane as the series editor, has researched and produced this series of documents to help achieve that task. The series brings together examples of interesting and innovative work in water, sanitation and hygiene from across our continent. The range of work described reflects the depth of local knowledge and experience that Africa can draw upon in solving its own problems. I commend these Field Notes and Leaflets to all African politicians, leaders and professionals concerned with water, and to all our colleagues around the world working with us for the benefit of African people.

This report presents the proceedings of the SWAp ("Sector Wide Approach") Workshop in Water Supply and Sanitation held in Montelimar, Nicaragua, May 19-20, 2005. The report describes the discussion on the conceptual framework and principal components of the SWAp approach, and general lessons learned thus far. The proceedings then examined the SWAp programs as applied in Nicaragua and Bolivia in particular. The workshop participants formed groups to develop a 100-day plan of action for implementing a SWAp in the water and sanitation sector.