RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS

The 'Ríos del Páramo al Valle' program (2012-2015), implemented by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and funded by USAID, aimed to build climate adaptation capacity in Colombian water resources planning. The project deployed a Robust Decision Support (RDS) framework using the Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) system across several watersheds to help regional environmental authorities (CARs) integrate climate uncertainty into their planning instruments.

• The program implemented a Robust Decision Support (RDS) process to help Colombian Corporaciones Autónomas Regionales (CARs) integrate climate considerations into watershed planning, moving from a reliance on external consultants to internal capacity building.
• In the Otún watershed, analysis showed that the páramo ecosystem is critical for water security, contributing approximately 40% of total streamflow at the multipurpose diversion point and up to 80% of total flows during the low-flow month of September in critical dry years.
• For the Otún watershed, the project recommends a regulatory adaptation strategy that prioritizes water allocation in the following order: 1st to the environment, 2nd to water consumption, and 3rd to energy.
• In the La Vieja watershed, the combination of municipal wastewater treatment plants and improved wastewater management in the coffee sector is the most effective strategy for reducing DBO5 levels, potentially reducing it to 2 mg/L at the outlet to the Cauca River.
• Vulnerability analysis in the La Vieja watershed identified the towns of Armenia, Circasia, La Tebaida, and Salento as having higher vulnerability to supply constraints under most uncertainty scenarios.
• In the Alto Magdalena watershed, the project supported the Huila 2050 Climate Action Plan and identified that balancing hydropower development with the maintenance of environmental flows is an urgent priority under climate change.
• The project enhanced the WEAP system by adding functionality to analyze floodplain inundation and integrating Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) to assess the impacts of small hydropower plants on base flows.
• The program successfully built technical capacity among young Colombian professionals and academic institutions, leading to the integration of WEAP into university courses and the development of a 'community of practice'.
• The project influenced national-level policy by prompting IDEAM to include WEAP in a National Water Modeling Center to support Regional Water Evaluations (ERAs).

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2015). RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/sei-usaid-2015-colombia-final-report.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS. 2015. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/sei-usaid-2015-colombia-final-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS |date=September 2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/sei-usaid-2015-colombia-final-report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2015ros, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/sei-usaid-2015-colombia-final-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }