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W
ater
E
ducation
and
I
nstitutional
D
evelopment
The plan includes:
• treatment of solid waste from the five municipalities of the basin
valley in the central part of the department of San Marcos and
three municipalities in the department of Quetzaltenango
• implementation of the studies of 12 wastewater treatment plants
at strategic locations
• recovery and preservation of 1,478 hectares of forest cover
including commercially valuable plantations (hemlock, energy
forests, orchards)
• improved drinking water coverage (quality and quantity)
• rehabilitation of power generation units (La Castalia and Granja
Eólica del Rodeo, among others).
In 2004, 10 associations were organized to support water resources
management. MANCUERNA and government institutions signed the
Declaration of Miralvalle, establishing the Municipal Water Tables
Dialogue system to provide a forum for dialogue on IWRM.
Several steps were entailed in building the system of water dialogues
and putting it into operation:
• direct involvement of the water sector, national authorities,
local authorities and organized population
• socioeconomic and environmental diagnosis of the municipalities
• administrative diagnostics of municipalities
• associative diagnostics
• generation of a geographic information system from the basin
hydrological study
• capacity building
• involvement and advocacy at the local, municipal and
regional levels.
Municipal and community development councils,
in conjunction with community partnerships, devel-
oped the proposed Municipal Water Policy, which is
promoted and in most cases supported by municipal
authorities. The policy is the basis for the preparation of
strategic development plans for both the municipalities
and the commonwealth.
Economic Development, Tourism, Environment
and Natural Resources Commission
By 2013 the Municipal Water Tables Dialogue system
had evolved to become institutionalized as a manda-
tory committee, known as the Economic Development,
Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources
Commission, in each municipality of the urban and
rural development councils framework. The policy has
enabled several IWRM initiatives to be put into practice:
• sensitization and training in IWRM
• formulation of municipal water policies
• establishment of the Municipal Water Tables Dialogue
• generation and management of information on
water resources
• social participation as a guarantor of sustainability
• implementation of a water inventory for the amount
and quality of the resource.
Associations for cooperation in IWRM
One of the first decisions taken at the beginning of the
decade was to promote the development of rural and
Image: UNESCO-CWR
Today, through a number of workshops and meetings, people can express their appreciation of water by exchange of information and local knowledge