Ecosystems are crucial to achieve hydric security

Ecosystems play a role in the regulation and purification of water, and have a decisive influence on the quantity and quality of hydric resources. For this reason, they play a key role to achieve hydric security, by contributing to improve the health and wellbeing of the inhabitants of vulnerable areas, as well as for the production of goods and services and the means of subsistence of vulnerable populations.  

Paradoxically, despite their importance, their sustainability is permanently at risk. For example, in Argentina, Chile, or Colombia, they face recurrent threats such as the advance of agricultural production, mining exploitation, or unplanned urbanization. 

Although the agenda of the comprehensive management of water resources (GIRH, for it acronym in Spanish) has gained ground in the region in the past few years, far-reaching reforms are needed that include the interrelationship of water with social, economic, environmental, legal, and political aspects at a local and national level. 

In this respect, experts coincide that it is necessary to strengthen the governance mechanisms and the multi-sectorial institutional participation while at the same time influencing the protection and conservation of ecosystems. 

The report  "Agua y ecosistemas" (Water and ecosystems) developed by CAF, Development Bank of Latin America with the support of The Nature Conservancy, analyzes the need to recognize the role of the ecosystems in the management and different uses of water, and states the main challenges of ecosystems in Latin America. Among them, the following stand out:  

• Promote citizen awareness regarding the value of ecosystems and the importance of their protection. The accelerated and disorganized increase of the population, as well as the integration of the regional economy, have generated adverse conditions that limit the capacity of ecosystems to generate water services to improve human development. In this respect, a greater citizen commitment is needed to contribute to its conservation and a more efficient use of water. 
• Increase investments for the management and restoration of ecosystems, as currently their value is underestimated when analyzing investment projects. In addition, its contribution is not reflected in the equation of the cost of the final service, so it is essential to connect the user with the ecosystem through a payment in the water tariff that guarantees its sustainability. 
• Promote the design and implementation of development policies, programs, and projects that take into consideration the depreciation of natural resources. Despite the efforts made by the countries of the region in the past decade, and the trend showing improvements in the governance processes of hydric resources, the deterioration of the ecosystems and their elements continues. Environmental services must be considered as an essential variable in the planning process and decision making at an institutional level, so that the impact of economic activities on the ecosystems involved may be measured and reduced. 

Despite the fact that the relation between water and ecosystems is evident from a technical point of view, both agendas continue to go on separate ways. It is important for countries to increase their efforts in the search of opportunities to create synergies between both agendas, so that a more intelligent use of the natural resources may be carried out, contributing to the objective of guaranteeing water security in Latin America.