Challenges in the Urban Management of Water

The main challenges of the management of water in the cities of Latin America gravitate around three situations: the informal occupation of the land and the precariousness of housing; the poor quality of public services, especially water and sanitation; and the degradation of the urban environment with the contamination of the bodies of water, and management of solid residues.

The report Equidad e inclusión social en América Latina: acceso universal al agua y el saneamiento Serie Reflexiones sobre políticas sociales y ambientales. No 2. (Equality and Social Inclusion in Latin America: universal access to water and sanitation. Reflexiones Series Regarding Social and Environmental Policies. Number 2.) (CAF, 2013) states that in order to face these challenges, the urban management of water must include the following components: potable water, sanitation, and rain drainage.It highlights that the necessary infrastructure is required to satisfy human activity with levels of service that have a predetermined quality, volume, and continuity.

 In Latin American countries, the potable water and sewage services are rendered by a sole company. The document highlights the case of Colombia which, as an exception, has a system with 34 autonomous environmental corporations which have financing from different sources.

 At the same time, most of the sources that supply water to the cities in Latin America are at risk. First, because the closest sources are insufficient to address the accelerated urban growth. Secondly, because in many cases the sources have deteriorated as a result of discharges of domestic and industrial waste waters.

 The report concludes that to respond to the urban challenges of water, the solutions must be coordinated through various sectors, such as zoning the use of the land, transportation plans, and the collection of solid residues  within a comprehensive approach of the water cycle. Thus, Latin America may enhance the quality of the potable water and sanitation services for the disadvantaged population beyond the rates of coverage of access to improved services.