INBO'S NEWSLETTER N° 4

INBO'S NEWSLETTER N° 4 - 1996

Table of contents	INBO'S NEWSLETTER - N° 4 - 1996
LATIN AMERICA COLOMBIA

Checua Project

The objective of the Checua Project is to control erosion and rehabilitate degraded soils.

In phase I, the project has centered its work on the reclamation of an area located 80 km North of Bogota which includes the hydrographic basins of Checua, Sutatausa and UbatŽ rivers, and Cucunuba Lagoon at a height above sea level comprised between 2,600 and 3,400 m and with a surface area of 60,700 ha.

Phase II, whose duration will be 4 years (1995-1998), aims at protecting the basin of Fuquene Lagoon, located 20 km North of above area, a surface area of 9,000 ha in which installations will be built to control the erosion process.

In the past, rural populations used lands in an inadequate manner and generally exerted an abnormal and harmful pressure on natural resources. This led to a strong erosion on most of the basin area. But, thanks to the measures developed by the project, 17,000 ha of Checua basin could be reclaimed and 43,000 ha are at present in the course of being rehabilitated in the other basins.

It has been necessary to interest the inhabitants of the region in environmental issues. Thus, rural communities have been associated since the beginning to the planning and application of methods for erosion control and reforestation. Up to now, 8,000 households, i.e. 40,000 persons, have participated in the project implementation.

The important advantages that will result from the project can be summarized as follows: increase in agricultural land potential, improvement of the food supply for the population, decrease in flood hazards in downstream areas, reduction of sediment transport as well as a reduction of the cost of water treatment for human consumption.

Diego Bravo Borda
Regional Autonomous Corporation of Cundinamarca
Fax : (57-77) 334 8793

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Table of contents	INBO'S NEWSLETTER - N° 4 - 1996
LATIN AMERICA ECLAC

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean has recently published documents which are of interest to INBO:

Management procedures for sustainable development,
Public Policies for sustainable development : integrated river basin management,
Report of an experts' group meeting on the implementation of Agenda 21 as regards integrated water resources management in Latin America and the Caribbean,
Progress made in the application of the recommendations given in Chapter 18 of Agenda 21 on integrated water resources management in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Circular Letter N° 4 of ECLAC continues the discussions on the participation of the private sector in public water services.

ECLAC is also announcing that its work will be centered on integrated water resources management at the level of hydrographic basins and on price use in water resources management.

Axel Dourojeanni, Terence R. Lee & Andrei S. Jouravlev
(ECLAC)
Fax : (562) 208 1946/208 0252

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Table of contents	INBO'S NEWSLETTER - N° 4 - 1996
LATIN AMERICA BRAZIL

A regional Committee will manage the Itajai-Açu river basin

A new body will take charge of the main river of this region of Santa Catarina State and of its tributaries. It is the Regional Committee for the Management and Monitoring of the Itaja'-Au river basin.

Its establishment was decided in March 1996 during a meeting of the Blumenau Industrial and Commercial Association (ACIB) which gathered representatives of the State and of the 47 municipalities concerned to find solutions to the problems encountered in the maintenance of three dams with a system of flood control, and to organize dialogue.
Extract of the "Santa Catarina Newspaper" of March 9, 1996.

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LATIN AMERICA COSTA RICA

The Tempisque River Basin

The Tempisque River basin, located in the North-West of Costa Rica, covers 5,454 km2, i.e. more than 54 % of the Guanacaste province with 190,400 inhabitants.

The main problems encountered in the basin are: the uncontrolled use of the resources, the lack of planning for the development of production activities, the use of pesticides and agrochemical products that cause pollution, discharges from sugar factories.

Destruction of wetlands, deforestation, soil compaction or monocultivation have led to the loss of rain water and thus to resource scarcity.

A commission for the rehabilitation of Tempisque river was created in April 1993. In September 1994, the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mines (MINAE today) decided to set up an inter-institutional and multi-disciplinary "Management Unit" to carry out basin management.

The creation of the CIVIL COUNCIL OF TEMPISQUE BASIN in which representatives of municipalities, enterprises and NGOs participate, has led to works being started again in the basin and to a permanent follow up of the sustainable management project.

Actions will be carried out to assist communities' projects, especially in the most degraded areas, and an environmental education and professional training programme will be implemented to provide the communities with the necessary management tools.

The Management Unit has participated in several projects on the Liberia river and Piches and Panteon torrents with the Lower-Tempisque communities and in the management of wetlands in Balsan district.

Mrs Maureen Ballestero
Fax : (506) 257 0697

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Table of contents	INBO'S NEWSLETTER - N° 4 - 1996
LATIN AMERICA VENEZUELA

Monitoring the quality of Rio Tuy water

The Ministry for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources has set up, through the Sole Authority of Rio Tuy basin, a system for monitoring surface water quality in Rio Tuy basin.

A first monitoring programme started in November 1995 and continued up to April 1996, with 25 weeks of uninterrupted work. 75 samples were withdrawn, with a total of 1,336 measurements dealing with solids, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). It has been the start of a permanent monitoring system based on on-site measurements and analyses in laboratories.

The monitoring network comprises 9 stations on the rivers and deals with the industrial discharges chosen to comply with a priority action programme.

A multiparameter equipment is used for the field measurement of pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen and temperature of air and water. Observations necessary for result interpretation are also noted.

José Gregorio Fernandez
Rio Tuy Basin Agency
Fax : (58-2) 541 0000

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LATIN AMERICA PANAMA

Territorial Environment and Water Commission of Bugaba

The first basin organization, called the Territorial Environment and Water Commission, was established in Panama by the municipal decree of May 14, 1996 and was ratified by Mr. Manuel Aquiles Caballero, mayor of Bugaba, and Mrs. Milagrosa Ortega, executive secretary.

It is an autonomous body which depends on the municipality of Bugaba and is supported by the Ministry of Health, the National Institute of Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, the National Institute of Renewable Natural Resources, the Council of Municipal Representatives, the Ministry of Rural Development and the Institute of Water Resources and Electricity.

This Commission is to be an example so that other regions protect and rehabilitate their aquatic ecosystems.

From the legislative point of view, the #35 decree of September 22, 1996 created the new National Water Commission.

Eduardo Castro
Fax : (507) 77 05 494

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