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The upper Acre River basin, shared by Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, faces increasing climate extremes, including more frequent floods and severe droughts, alongside significant deforestation. While regional frameworks like the Amazon Cooperation Treaty exist, the report finds a gap between high-level agreements and local implementation due to differing national legal frameworks and a lack of formal basin committees. The document analyzes recent governance efforts—such as Bolivia's Strategic Water Planning Strategy (EPHIC), Brazil's state-level management, and Peru's progress toward creating a Basin Water Resources Council—and recommends consolidating existing local platforms through voluntary coordination and shared data protocols rather than creating new formal structures.

The project addresses the vulnerability of The Bahamas' water sector to hurricanes, storm surges, and sea level rise, which threaten the nation's primary natural freshwater source: shallow groundwater lenses. The proposal outlines a strategy to shift the national water utility, Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC), away from a costly and financially unsustainable reliance on reverse osmosis (RO) desalination toward the sustainable use of climate-resilient groundwater. This will be achieved through three main outputs: strengthening national water policy and legislation, establishing a national water resources monitoring network and management unit (WRMU) with a decision support system (DSS), and implementing physical infrastructure upgrades across six priority islands. The project aims to benefit 415,000 people, with 215,273 receiving direct infrastructure improvements.

The paper analyzes water injustice across OECD countries, finding a primary focus on water scarcity and identifying distributive, procedural, and recognitional injustices. It argues that current responses are insufficient to address root causes and recommends a systems perspective and local context focus for future governance.

The report analyzes the governance of energy transition minerals in Colombia, focusing on copper and nickel. Through case studies of the Quebradona project and the Cerro Matoso mine, it identifies systemic failures in environmental mitigation, human rights protections, and benefit distribution. It argues that current regulatory frameworks are insufficient to prevent the 'enclave economy' model and proposes seven priority safeguard areas—including mandatory environmental licensing for exploration and strengthened prior consultation—to align Colombian mining with a just energy transition.

The Centre for Environmental Rights (CER) welcomes the introduction of a licensing regime and personal liability for directors in the Water Services Amendment Bill [B24 – 2025] but warns that the Bill concentrates too much power in the Director General and lacks mandatory environmental and public health standards for licensing. The CER argues that the Bill fails to address systemic under-funding of infrastructure and climate-change resilience, and it calls for the inclusion of mandatory climate-adaptation plans and a national framework for wastewater reuse.

The paper evaluates eight water funds in the Andean region against EbA principles, finding that while they effectively promote ecosystem resilience and multi-sector governance, they lack intentional focus on climate science, social vulnerability, and gender equity. It recommends integrating gender, social, and climate vulnerability analyses and strengthening monitoring and evaluation to better align with broader adaptation policies.

The report assesses gender dynamics in water access and climate resilience across four Pacific Island Countries (PICs). It finds that women and girls bear the primary burden of water collection and management but are systematically excluded from decision-making and governance. Climate change exacerbates these inequalities through droughts and saltwater intrusion. The assessment recommends increasing women's leadership in water committees, investing in gender-sensitive infrastructure, and improving the collection of sex-disaggregated data to inform policy.

The research evaluates four network strategies for coordinating interdependent policy issues, finding that shared responsibilities, broadening expertise, and issue alignment are more effective than utilizing a network manager.

The study finds that the Mekong River Commission frames climate change policy as science-based and short-term, while expanding its discourse to include justice, security, and development to attract donor support. However, the authors argue that these discursive trends result in the production of studies and project scoping rather than substantive adaptive actions in the basin.

The document advocates for a transition toward a green economy in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region by rethinking Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) to include the anthropo-hydrogeological cycle and non-conventional water resources. It highlights the role of virtual water trade, noting that the region was a net exporter of green virtual water and a net importer of blue virtual water between 1996 and 2005. The text emphasizes that achieving water security requires overcoming challenges related to resource-intensive economic growth and pollution through enhanced institutional communication, political will, and civil-society engagement across multiple levels of water governance.

The report details a 2014 workshop in Buenos Aires that brought together a diverse group of specialists to address hydroenergy and climate change in South America. The event focused on fostering interdisciplinarity and collaboration among stakeholders to improve the governance of transboundary basins, specifically the Uruguay River Basin.

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.

The research examines water governance in the Maipo River basin, focusing on the intersection of neoliberal water policy, climatic variability, and social discontent. It specifically analyzes the law of river sectioning, the Alto Maipo hydropower conflict, and the contested meaning of water scarcity amidst ongoing drought and climate change to advocate for social and environmental justice in Chilean water policy.

The document analyzes the transition from conventional water governance and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) toward adaptive management and water security. It emphasizes the necessity of monitoring and measurement to guide decision-making and highlights the importance of equity and social learning in creating participatory and adaptive water governance systems.

Based on 225 interviews with high-level stakeholders, the report finds that while climate and health policies are currently largely siloed across the six studied regions, there is a strong consensus that further integration is necessary to maximize co-benefits and address complex challenges. Common barriers include funding shortages, data gaps, and institutional silos, while opportunities include upcoming policy deliberations and rising public awareness. The report suggests strategies such as adopting 'health in all policies' approaches, increasing the use of scientific evidence, and enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration.

The document identifies a critical disconnect between macro-level transboundary water treaties and the lived realities of local water users, particularly in conflict-prone and climate-stressed regions. It argues that while 'water wars' are rare, the failure to integrate grassroots concerns into national strategies can exacerbate local tensions and undermine regional stability. The brief highlights how armed conflict destroys infrastructure and how climate-induced scarcity can reduce altruism and increase in-group bias. It recommends bridging these gaps through inclusive governance, technological innovation, and evidence-based policymaking to foster resilience and peacebuilding.

The GovernAgua project aims to transition water governance in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay from reactive to anticipatory models. By analyzing six river basins, the project seeks to develop a system of collective intelligence and experimental governance to enhance ecosystem services and human well-being. Initial findings highlight a shift from hierarchical to integrated governance models following national constitutional reforms, though progress varies by country, with Argentina showing less developed participatory legislation compared to Brazil and Uruguay.

The document examines Zambia's water security challenges, noting that despite abundant freshwater resources, the country faces crises driven by climate change, population growth, and poor governance. It highlights the severe impact of contaminated water on public health, the vulnerability of rain-fed agriculture to droughts, and environmental degradation caused by mining pollution and deforestation. The brief argues that current legal frameworks, such as the Water Act 198, are insufficient, particularly regarding groundwater and shared watercourses. Key recommendations include establishing a National Water Resources Authority, investing in irrigation and infrastructure maintenance, and addressing gender inequalities in water access.

South Africa faces a projected 17% gap between water supply and demand by 2030, driven by climate change, population growth, and poor governance. The country's water infrastructure is at significant risk of failure due to reactive maintenance and maladministration, with 41% of municipal water classified as non-revenue water. Governance failures have led to critical risks in wastewater treatment and public health crises, such as the 2023 cholera outbreak in Hammanskraal. The document recommends implementing water conservation measures, developing climate adaptation plans, enhancing governance legislation, and prioritizing infrastructure investment in rural areas.

The report outlines a strategic collaboration between the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Guatemala's Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS) to integrate WASH services with integrated watershed management. It identifies critical gaps in service coverage—estimated at 89% for drinking water and 63% for sanitation—and proposes the adaptation of SEI tools (WASH-Flows, EWI, and WEAP) to enhance data collection, gender equity, and decision-making. The document aligns these efforts with the National Development Plan K’atun 2032 and recommends increased inter-institutional coordination, investment in climate-resilient infrastructure, and the adoption of a gender-sensitive approach to water governance.