RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS

The report "RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS" documents a project implemented between 2012 and 2015 by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) with USAID support. The project aimed to strengthen the capacity of Colombian regional environmental authorities (CAR) to integrate climate change adaptation into water resource planning using the Robust Decision Support (ADR) methodology and the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system. The work focused on several key basins, including the Otún, La Vieja, and Alto Magdalena rivers, as well as the broader Magdalena-Cauca macro-basin, demonstrating how technical modeling and participatory processes can reduce climate vulnerability and inform national policy.

• The project successfully implemented the Robust Decision Support (ADR) methodology and the WEAP system to help Colombian environmental authorities plan for climate change, resulting in the training of over 100 students at the Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira (UTP) and the creation of a regional network of professionals.
• In the Otún river basin, modeling revealed that the páramo ecosystem is critical for water security, contributing approximately 40% of the total flow and nearly 80% of the flow during extreme drought months like September.
• For the La Vieja river basin, the study identified that domestic and coffee sector wastewater contribute over 70% of the total pollutant load (approximately 11 tons of BOD5/day). Implementing combined wastewater treatment strategies for both sectors is the most effective way to improve water quality.
• Analysis of the La Vieja river basin showed that the municipalities of Armenia, Circasia, La Tebaida, and Salento are the most vulnerable to water supply limitations under various climate uncertainty scenarios.
• In the Alto Magdalena basin, the project supported the 'Plan Huila 2050' and demonstrated that the WEAP tool could be used to automate the generation of Regional Water Assessment (ERA) indicators, leading the IDEAM to include WEAP in its National Modeling Center.
• Research on the Magdalena-Cauca macro-basin indicated that increasing upstream reservoir storage to 30% of the average annual runoff could significantly reduce seasonal interactions between rivers and floodplains, potentially harming wetland ecosystems by eliminating low flows during dry months.
• The project developed new WEAP functionalities to model floodplain inundation and integrated Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) indicators, allowing for a better understanding of how small hydroelectric plants (PCHs) reduce base flows and affect ecological health, as seen in the Aipe river study.
• A key governance finding is the significant overlap between Colombia's various water planning instruments (POMCA, PORH, POT, and PSMV), suggesting that a shared basin model like WEAP could improve Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) by coordinating these plans.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2015). RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-USAID-2015-Colombia-informe-final.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. RÍOS DEL PÁRAMO AL VALLE, POR URBES Y CAMPIÑAS. 2015. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-USAID-2015-Colombia-informe-final.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/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-USAID-2015-Colombia-informe-final.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/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Climate/SEI-USAID-2015-Colombia-informe-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }