sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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(b)
Water resources assessment
A major effort in this area is the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP), founded in
<strong>20</strong>00, which oversees freshwater-related issues in order to build national assessment capacity, among
other aims. Despite the great importance of water resources assessment in the region, little progress has
been made in this area. Insufficient information is available and there are watersheds for which not even
the basic background details are known for calculating the water balance. In spite of considerable
progress in incorporating new technology, there are often long delays in data storage and processing. The
main challenge is to improve institutional capacity for implementing and administering a system of
continuous monitoring and assessment of water resources, in order to supply water managers with reliable
information with which to work.
In many countries, water monitoring is done piecemeal in response to sectoral interests, and
available information is either very scarce or ad hoc.
(c)
Protection of water resources, water quality and aquatic ecosystems
The biggest problems facing water resource management include the unwarranted degradation of
water quality and pollution of surface water and groundwater associated with urban growth, industrial
expansion, mining, agriculture and the use of chemicals, with no proper wastewater treatment or pollution
control facilities. To counter this, in recent <strong>years</strong> virtually all Governments of the region have announced
policies to protect water resources, water quality and aquatic ecosystems, which, while diverse, share a
number of common features: (i) greater awareness of environmental issues; (ii) interest in using economic
instruments for inducing water resource protection; and (iii) mainstreaming pollution control from a
watershed perspective.
In terms of water pollution regulation and economics, progress has been made in recent decades. On
the one hand, water-use charges (Brazil) and wastewater discharge fees or charges (Brazil, Colombia,
Mexico) are starting to be introduced (Acquatella, <strong>20</strong>01). On the other hand, the focus is still on the use of
regulatory instruments such as standards, discharge permits and regulations, which entail an implicit
economic cost. While approximately 30 million cubic metres (m 3 ) of domestic wastewater are discharged
into surface water bodies, no more than 28% is treated prior to discharge (Lentini, <strong>20</strong>08). The percentage of
treated wastewater varies widely from country to country and in some, such as El Salvador (3%),
Haiti (5%), Colombia (8%), Guatemala (9%) and Honduras (11%) (WSP, <strong>20</strong>07), the figures are worryingly
low, whereas a city like Santiago, Chile, treats more than 80% of its wastewater (UNEP, <strong>20</strong>10a).
Many challenges remain in protecting water resources, water quality and aquatic ecosystems,
starting with the need for national policies to protect ecosystems comprehensively, such as water sources,
and for a variety of mechanisms to be designed and implemented to promote water resource availability
and quality. In order to protect health, there is an urgent need to increase investment in wastewater
treatment facilities and to incorporate innovative technologies for wastewater treatment and recycling. To
achieve this, it is important to ensure both ethical propriety and appropriate discount rates and to make a
proper assessment of damage caused by resource degradation in water infrastructure investment.
Several countries in the region have incorporated innovative provisions in their legislation on
water that take an ecosystem approach to water management. Paraguay’s law on water resources (Law
3.239/<strong>20</strong>07) ranks the water needs of aquatic ecosystems second only to water allocations for human
consumption and ahead of agricultural, power generation and industrial uses. Similarly, under the
Nicaraguan General Law on National Waters (Law 6<strong>20</strong>, approved on 15 May <strong>20</strong>07) the granting of