Ecuador : Manabí pilot River Basin District
Updated : 20/12/2015
The recent Constitution declares "a right to water for all", in which water is a strategic national heritage, for public use, unalienable, indefeasible, imperceptible and essential for life. It also establishes a single “water authority” for water resources planning and management: the SENAGUA (National Secretariat for Water) is thus responsible for the implementation of integrated water management policies.
The new water law, enacted on 6 August 2014, structures the territory into 9 River Basin Districts and plans the establishment of Basin Councils. Each district is managed by a decentralized division of SENAGUA.
On the occasion of the French-Ecuadorian Water Days in October 2014, the Adour-Garonne Water Agency (AEAG) and IOWater were asked to provide support to the Ecuadorian Water Policy.
A cooperation protocol was devised for:
- Establishment and functioning of a pilot Basin Council - and organization of an inter-ministerial technical secretariat of this Basin Council;
- Methodological support to the drafting of the Basin Management Plan;
- Participatory Review of the program funding mechanisms;
- Development of an information and data management system.
The assignments carried out in this context allowed:
- Interactive work with all partners of the "National Strategic Water System" to facilitate data exchange and organize participatory work.
- Providing operational proposals for the training of stakeholders, widening the consultation circle, organizing commissions and working groups and communication at different levels, working closely with SENAGUA teams.
The strong political will and clear population support are major assets for the country and will facilitate achieving the objectives of this cooperation.