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ater

ducation

and

nstitutional

evelopment

community development councils (CODEDES,

COMUDES and COCODES). Among the COMUDES,

support was given for the creation of the Municipal

Water Tables Dialogue.

This has promoted the

participatory formulation of a municipal water policy

and of pricing models for services.

Management models have also integrated the views

of at least 14 governmental and non-governmental

entities joined in the Natural Resources Coordinator

of San Marcos, a platform to plan the implementation

of specific projects in the department of San Marcos

(In the upper Naranjo River Basin).

These projects

aim to reduce competition for support, minimize the

duplication of functions and ensure the efficient use

of government funds and donations from the countries

that support the development of Guatemala.

Framework for IWRM

Various tools have been used to formulate a Territorial

Strategic Planning Commonwealth with an emphasis

on IWRM. The plan covers a period from 2007 to

2020 and, importantly, it includes the participation

of authorities and civil society organized through

COCODES and COMUDES.

of biodiversity, soil degradation, decreased water recharge

areas, acculturation and intellectual poverty. Several initiatives

have been put in place to address each of these issues and put

in place the elements needed to ensure efficient and effective

water management.

Elements of effective water management

An investigation of the state of water in Guatemala and the Naranjo

river basin in the south-western part of the country was carried out in

2004. It detected weaknesses in the public’s acquisition of knowledge

and skills regarding their rights and responsibilities for integrated

water resources management (IWRM) in the Naranjo river basin.

Support and advice was provided to leaders and citizens to

enable self-management and the creation of 10 associations.

These associations have since been united to form the Associated

Communities for Sustainable Integrated Development of the

Naranjo. Officers and employees of the basin’s municipali-

ties were also given support and advice on the planning and

implementation of coordinated actions. Today they constitute

the Association of Municipalities of the Naranjo River Basin

(MANCUERNA).

Management models promoted as part of this effort included

respect for the laws of decentralization, and support for the

constitution and the roles of the departmental, municipal and

The project in the Naranjo river watershed faced the principal

question of how to transfer knowledge and implement IWRM

in an area where illiteracy is high and multicultural.

Using materials from the UNESCO-IHP Project WET water

education project, Fundación Solar and the UNESCO Chair

in Water Resources produced two educational posters: one

showing the reality of the Naranjo river watershed without

IWRM, and the other depicting what will happen when all

sectors (environmental, municipal, socioeconomic and so

on), work together with IWRM. Along with these, a guide was

developed which used the posters to explain issues such as

the governance, principles and tools of IWRM, gender and

multiculturalism, and management for the sustainability of

water systems.

The educational package was developed with the

involvement of community leaders and women of the

Association of Community Partners for Water, Environment

and Infrastructure of the Naranjo River as well as authorities,

municipal officials and employees of MANCUERNA.

Images: UNESCO-CWR