How governance affects participation: Insights from water resources planning projects in Colombia and Peru

The document analyzes the impact of governance on the implementation of the Robust Decision Support (RDS) process in Colombia and Peru. While both countries have restructured their water governance to be more inclusive, different institutional barriers hindered the process: Colombia's Regional Autonomous Corporations (CARs) faced capacity constraints due to broad environmental mandates, while Peru's fragmented system of national approval and local implementation created coordination challenges and marginalized local technical staff. The authors recommend formal agreements to secure staff time and the direct involvement of national data agencies to improve the success of science-informed water policy.

• Colombia's water governance is decentralized through the National Environmental System (SINA), where Regional Autonomous Corporations (CARs) autonomously develop and implement River Basin Management and Development Plans (POMCAs) and manage environmental licensing for smaller projects.
• Peru's water governance is more centralized under the National Water Authority (ANA), which approves basin-level plans (PGRHC) at the national level for implementation by non-autonomous Administrative Water Authorities (AAA) and Local Water Authorities (ALA).
• The Robust Decision Support (RDS) approach, which combines the RAND Corporation's XLRM framework with the Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) system, was used in both countries to identify adaptation actions such as conserving watersheds, defining environmental flows, and improving irrigation efficiency.
• In Colombia, the broad responsibilities of the CARs—covering various environmental and administrative tasks beyond water—limited the availability of technical staff to engage consistently in the two-year RDS process.
• In Peru, the separation of planning (ANA) and implementation (AAA/ALA) required complex coordination, and the dominance of Technical Secretariats sometimes marginalized locally knowledgeable professionals from the ALAs and AAAs.
• Data availability was a significant hurdle in both countries, potentially because the national data agencies (IDEAM in Colombia and SENAHMI in Peru) were not directly involved in the RDS process or due to bureaucratic request procedures.

APA

Bresney, S., Aguirre, A. M. M., & Escobar, M. (2017). How governance affects participation: Insights from water resources planning projects in Colombia and Peru. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2017-Governance-water-resources-planning-Colombia-Peru.pdf

Chicago

Bresney, Susan, Angélica María Moncada Aguirre, and Marisa Escobar. How governance affects participation: Insights from water resources planning projects in Colombia and Peru. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2017-Governance-water-resources-planning-Colombia-Peru.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Bresney |first1=Susan |last2=Aguirre |first2=Angélica María Moncada |last3=Escobar |first3=Marisa |title=How governance affects participation: Insights from water resources planning projects in Colombia and Peru |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2017-Governance-water-resources-planning-Colombia-Peru.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{bresney2017how, author = {Bresney, Susan and Aguirre, Angélica María Moncada and Escobar, Marisa}, title = {{How governance affects participation: Insights from water resources planning projects in Colombia and Peru}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/SEI-DB-2017-Governance-water-resources-planning-Colombia-Peru.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }