Paraná’s Water Basin Committees

Paraná River and the Torres Dolfines Guarani

The city of Paraná is the capital of the Entre Ríos province in Argentina and located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River. As a growing city, the city's streams are impacted, inter alia, by sewage and industrial wastewater that reach the streams through illegal pipes, deforestation, soil erosion as well as dumping and burning of solid waste. To address these impact, citizens organised in neighborhood groups started to discuss possible solutions, which led to the establishment of the first two Water Basin Committees. Based on these citizen efforts, the city government of Paraná adopted a specific ordinance for the creation of committees for each of the city’s 16 streams (OrdenanzaNº 9668 - Cuencas hidrograficas urbans - comité de cuencas, 2018). The establishment of the committees not only improved the environmental quality of the streams and public health, but also the management of flood and soil erosion risks.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Dedicated strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Watershed restoration/water quality
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

While the committees themselves where largely giving platform for coordination, exchange and planning, budgets were allocated for the development of linear parks or environmental remediation projects, among other implementation. These actions were also based on the maps and other scientific evidence identifying the main need for addressing the individual water quality and flood risks for each to the 16 streams .

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Blue areas

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Inclusivity

Governance

Non-governmental actor(s)

Initiating body:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The instrument started as a citizen-led initiative discussing possible solutions to the environmental deterioratio of the streams. After the establishment of two formal Water Basin Committees, the City Government of Paraná adopted a specific ordinance for the creation of committees for each of the city’s 16 streams (OrdenanzaNº 9668 - Cuencas hidrograficas urbans - comité de cuencas, 2018). This enabled the establishment of 14 additional committees to target all of the 16 streams of the city. With these committees, e a democratic space for citizen participation was created that enabled a constructive communication and coordination among residents, neighborhood associations, and city officials.

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Details about the implementation:

The committees were each divided into two parts, the technical part and the citizen coordination to address resident demands, public policies and to provide a structure for site management. Joint meetings between both branches of the committees are held regularly. The community’s participation continues to guarantee the application of good practice in all processes.

How did the government support the instrument?:

The local government supported the committees by formalising this initiative by giving it the legal and financial support. Local officials also actively participate in the committees and the implementation.

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public national budget

Public local authority’s budget

Crowd-sourcing

Details about instrument financing:

The funds for the planning, implementation and construction/ renovation of specific infrastructure came predominantly from the local government’s annual budget. A recent national plan for urban regeneration, which includes a “hydric landscape” component, has provided further funding opportunities. Some additional financial resources were raised be the committee.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The committees disseminated environmental information through different platforms, e.g. by using social media to communicate with citizens. On the technical part, quality analyses of water and soil as well as GIS Data was gathered by research partners that constituted an important component for planning. In this context, a map of the city of the different water basins was created. Copies were distributed and displayed in schools, libraries and other public spaces. Additional key data, knowledge and resources to support the city’s efforts was/is provided be engaged citizens and other organisations.

Success factors and lessons learned:

The establishment of the Water Basin Committees was based on an bottom-up process of engaged civil society and neighborhood organisations, followed by a council ordinance leading to a structured setting for exchange. This forms an extraordinary design and planning mechanism for inclusive and participatory water management, driven by citizen demand and academic input. The following points include some main lessons from the project: • Existing local administration and citizen council systems can be adapted to improve coordination between civil society and the local government. • The geography of a city and the ecological systems that exist in it can provide structural axes to coordinate activities of adaptation and resilience actions in the territories. • Environmental organizations and civil society organizations can provide key data, knowledge and resources to support adaptation and awareness raising efforts in the city In terms of transferability, the committees themselves identified the following pre-conditions to replicate the project in other areas: (1) Citizens are knowledgeable about environmental processes and the ecology of the local landscape and are committed to care for it; (2) Citizens groups are given legal status; (3) Flexibility within public policies to allow for community participation; (4) Mutual agreements that allow for the commitment of State-Citizens to coordinate actions to solve different problems.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

United Cities and Local Governments (2019). Climate Resilience and Urban Development, UCLG Peer Learning Note #26. https://www.uclg.org/sites/default/files/pln26_eng.pdf (Accessed: 25 October 2022).

Urban Sustainability Exchange (2022). Paraná’s Water Basin Committees. https://use.metropolis.org/case-studies/paranas-water-basin-committees (Accessed: 25 October 2022).

Photos

@ M. Kolus