Colombia: delegation of project approval to certified water utilities

Vivienda minister Germán Vargas Lleras and Bucaramanga state water utility (AMB) general manager Ludwig Stünkel García at a public event. Photo: Julián Sabogal. MVCT

The Acueducto Metropolitano de Bucaramanga (AMB) is now the 5th certified public utility sanctioned by the Colombian government to approve water and sanitation projects.

In a press release the  housing, cities and land ministry (MVCT) said new legislation approved in 2012 had made this delegation of powers to municipal water utilities. The ministry said this cuts red tape so that projects can be approved faster.

Previous certified public water utilities were Aguas de Cartagena, Empopasto, Aguas de Manizales and Empresas Públicas de Armenia.

Related websites:

• MVCT - Viceministerio de Agua y Saneamiento
• IRC/Triple-S – Water services that last – Colombia overview

Source: MVCT [in Spanish], 06 Dec 2012 ; BNamericas.com / WaterWorld.com, 06 Dec 2012

Colombia: testing innovative models for rural water and sanitation services

Photo: IRC

NGO “Give to Colombia” will implement several pilot projects that will serve as models for the Rural Water Supply and Wastewater Management Program in Colombia. This large-scale programme is financed with the help of a US$ 60 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The pilot projects have four components:

• School water, sanitation and hygiene promotion (SWASH), which will implement and evaluate UNICEF’s model for SWASH interventions in at least 25 rural public schools
• Post-construction support and the sustainability of rural water projects with a focus on innovative financial models
• Sustainable models for the financing and provision of household connections
• Sustainable self-supply models for disperse rural communities

The AquaFund and Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction are financing the pilot projects. Contributors to the Aquafund are IDB, the governments of Switzerland and Austria, and the PepsiCo Foundation.

The pilot projects will cost about US$ 2.1 million. The implementing agency Give to Colombia (G2C) receives resources from the Embassy of Japan and the General Electric Foundation. PepsiCo Colombia is supporting the dissemination of the innovative models being developed in the projects.

In 2011, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and CINARA carried out a study on behalf of IDB, about post-construction support on rural water supply services in Colombia [1]. The study [2] shows that those service providers that receive more structured support perform better.

[1] IADB publishes report on post-construction support on rural water supply services in Colombia, IRC, 21 Aug 2012 ; Webinar – Impacts of post-construction support on the performance of rural water supply in Colombia, IRC,

[2] Smits, S. et al., 2012. Gobernanza y sostenibilidad de los sistemas de agua potable y saneamiento rurales en Colombia. (Monografia; IDB-MG-133). [online] Washington, DC, USA: Inter-American Development Bank. Available at: <http://idbdocs.iadb.org/wsdocs/getdocument.aspx?docnum=36986189>

Related websites:

• IDB – Rural Water Supply and Wastewater Management Program (CO-L1105)
• IDB – AquaFund
• Give to Colombia (G2C)
• IRC – Triple-S/Water services that last – Colombia

Source: Latin American Herald Tribune, 10 Oct 2012 ; IDB, 02 Oct 2012

Colombia: Indigenous WAYUU women fight for fresh water

This documentary looks at one of Colombia’s largest indigenous groups, Wayuu, and their struggle for fresh water. Soon their water will be siphoned from their lands through new pipes to a nearby town, where the population is not indigenous. Due to a changing climate, water has become even scarcer in their community. One extraordinary woman fights for her community’s very survival.

IDB and FEMSA Foundation award Water and Sanitation Prize to innovative service operators

Service operators and public officials from Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil and Colombia were recognized for innovative contributions to water and sanitation by the Inter-American Development Bank and FEMSA Foundation during the 2010 World Water Week congress in Stockholm.

Federico Basañes, chief the IDB’s Water and Sanitation Division, and Genaro Borrego Estrada, Director of Corporate Affairs for FEMSA, awarded the second edition of the Water and Sanitation Prize, which was inaugurated [in 2009] with the goal of recognizing outstanding contributions to the challenge of providing sustainable and accessible water and sanitation services in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Servicios de Agua y Drenaje de Monterrey, Mexico, received the award for water management in recognition of its successful strategy to voluntarily reduce consumption and encourage conservation of water over the last 20 years.

The Government of the State of Amazonas, Brazil, received the award for sanitation management in recognition of the results of the Programa Socioambiental dos Igarapés de Manaus (PROSAMIM), which implemented an integrated solution to water, sanitation and housing problems in low-income communities in the city of Manaos.

Aguas de Cartagena, Colombia, received a special mention for its success in the commercial management of accounts in low-income districts.

Empresa Nicaraguense de Aqueductos y Alcantarillados (ENACAL)also received a special mention for the construction and operation of a waste-water treatment plant in the city of Managua.

Representatives from each of the four awardees gave presentations describing the recognized project or initiative as part of “Latin America Day” at World Water Week, considered the largest international congress specializing in this sector.

The winners, as well as the recipients of special mentions, will receive scholarships financed by the FEMSA Foundation [to] send water and sanitation professionals to the Centro del Agua para América Latina y el Caribe (CAALCA), a specialized training and research institution jointly created by the IDB, FEMSA and Tecnológico de Monterrey.

Source: IDB, 07 Sep 2010

Colombia: DNP taking steps to prevent municipal water shortage by 2025

Colombia’s national planning department (DNP) will work with municipal governments to draw up a contingency plan to prevent a severe municipal water shortage by 2025, according to the government’s 2019 development vision.

Read full article one: BNamericas, [subscription site], 26 July 2010

Latin America: Camif mezzanine fund in advanced negotiations – Empla

The Central American mezzanine infrastructure fund (Camif), which closed in 2009 at US$150mn, is offering long-term funding in 10 Latin American countries. The fund’s partners are IDB, the World Bank’s IFC, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), the Mexican Fondo de Fondos (CMIC) and the Finnish fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund).

The fund will focus on traditional infrastructure projects but it will also invest in related sectors such as water and sanitation, wastewater treatment, recycling and irrigation.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 14 Jan 2010

Colombia: government seeks to moderate water consumption through rate increase

The Colombian government will issue a presidential decree in January 2010 to increase water tariffs in an effort to moderate water consumption in the country. Rates will be adjusted in each region according to water usage and climate variables.

Read the full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 23 Dec 2009

Colombia, Bucaramanga: water utility opens educational water park

Colombian city Bucaramanga’s water utility Acueducto Metropolitano de Bucaramanga (AMB) inaugurated an educational water park to teach people about the proper use of water resources on 9 November 2009. Visitors to the park can see the treatment processes carried out by the utility and learn about the importance of contributing to the sustainability of hydrological resources.

Read the full article on BNamericas.com [subscription site], Nov 2009

Colombia, La Guajira: indigenous communities to benefit from departmental water plan

Indigenous communities in the Alta Guajira region, who currently depend on water tanks, will get improved access to potable water as part of La Guajira department,s water plan.

La Guajira department has signed the contract with the consortium that will implement water plan.

The project includes the construction of 11 reservoirs and a water treatment plant, which will provide potable water to more than 7mn inhabitants living in the Alta Guajira region, according to deputy water minister Leyla Rojas.

“These works cost approximately 11bn pesos (US$5.54mn),” Rojas said.

The consortium that will manage the departmental water plan, Agua para La Guajira, is comprised of local firms such as capital Bogotá’s Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado (EAAB); B y P Servicios; Selfinver Banca de Inversión; Compañía de Servicios de Ingeniería y Laboratorios Ambientales ILAM and Aguas de Bogotá.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 10 Nov 2009

Colombia: President Uribe issues directive on water, energy saving

Colombia’s President Álvaro Uribe has laid out specific measures to save energy and water as a way to combat power shortages caused by the drought in the country. The mandate outlines ways to save water, especially when watering gardens, washing vehicles and public spaces. Energy savings include switching off lights in bathrooms and after 8pm in public buildings.

Uribe asked both governors and mayors to promote the measures in their jurisdictions.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 16 Oct 2009