Aguas urbanas en Uruguay: avances y desafíos hacia una gestión integrada

Uruguay is transitioning toward integrated urban water management, with high potable water access but ongoing challenges in sanitation, stormwater drainage, and flood risk management. While constitutional reforms recognize water and sanitation as human rights, implementation remains partial, and the country faces significant needs in wastewater treatment and sustainable urban drainage planning.

• Uruguay is nearing universal access to drinking water through its sole public operator, OSE, but must still address water source protection, rural housing coverage, and water loss reduction.
• Sanitation coverage is high, yet the country needs to improve sewer service coverage, wastewater treatment, home connections, and alternative systems for hard-to-reach areas.
• Urban drainage issues affect over 60 population centers, with 70% of cases classified as medium or severe, necessitating better planning and sustainable technologies.
• Flooding is the primary trigger for the National Emergency System, and the current priority is integrating risk maps into local plans, improving monitoring and alert systems, and revaluing riverbanks.
• Constitutional reform of Article 47 establishes environmental protection as a general interest and access to drinking water and sanitation as fundamental human rights, though regulatory implementation is only partial.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Aguas urbanas en Uruguay: avances y desafíos hacia una gestión integrada. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/aguas-urbanas-en-uruguay-avances-y-desafios-hacia-una-gestion-integrada/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Aguas urbanas en Uruguay: avances y desafíos hacia una gestión integrada. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/aguas-urbanas-en-uruguay-avances-y-desafios-hacia-una-gestion-integrada/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Aguas urbanas en Uruguay: avances y desafíos hacia una gestión integrada |date=15 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/aguas-urbanas-en-uruguay-avances-y-desafios-hacia-una-gestion-integrada/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025aguas, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Aguas urbanas en Uruguay: avances y desafíos hacia una gestión integrada}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/aguas-urbanas-en-uruguay-avances-y-desafios-hacia-una-gestion-integrada/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }