METROPOLITAN GROWTH AND WATER MANAGEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA

This article discusses some recent developments in water management in Latin America. It is based on research done during the joint CEPAL/UNEP project on Water Development and the Environment. The author discusses the changes in water use occurring in Latin America in general, the contemporary relationship with the water resource in four major metropolitan centres, Bogotá, Colombia, Lima, Peru, and Sāo Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On the basis of the general and specific experiences described, general conclusions are drawn as to styles of water management current in the region and adjustments to the problem posed by the emergence of very large metropolitan concentrations of population and economic activity. Cet article reprend des développements récents en matière de gestion des ressources en eau en Amérique latine. II se base sur des recherches effectuées au cours de l'exécution du projet conjoint CEPAL/PNUE sur la mise en valeur des ressources en eau et de l'environnement. L'auteur discute des modifications intervenues dans l'utilisation des ressources en eau en Amérique latine en général et le rapport qui existe actuellement entre les ressources en eau et quatre centres principaux urbains (Bogota en Colombie, Lima au Pérou, et Sāo Paulo et Rio de Janeiro au Brésil). Sur la base des experiences générales et particulières décrites, des conclusions génèrales sont tirées quant aux modes de gestion actuelle des ressources en eau dans la région et aux améliorations apportées au problème créé par l'apparition d'énormes agglomérations urbaines à activité économique intense. Este artículo trata sobre algunos desarrollos recientes en la administración del uso de recursos de agua en Latinoamérica. El artículo está basado en la investigación realizada en el proyecto conjunto CEPAL/PNUMA sobre Desarrollo de Agua y el Medio Ambiente. El autor analiza los cambios que están ocurriendo en el uso de recursos de ague en Latinoamérica en general y las relaciones entre los recursos de agua y los usos en cuatro centros metropolitanos: Bogotá, Lima, Sāco Paulo y Rio de Janeiro. Basándose en descripciones de experiencias generales y específicas, se extraen conclusiones sobre los estilos de la administración de recursos de agua existentes en la región y sobre la solución a los problemas planteados por la emergencia de grandes concentraciones metropolitanas de población y actividad económica.     

Comments on: 'Financing water supply and sanitation under Agenda 21' by John Briscoe and Harvey A Garn, February 1995 and on the comments by Gourisankar Ghosh and Ashok Nigam, May 1995

The argument in John Briscoe and Harvey Garn's paper, 'Financing water supply and sanitation under Agenda 21', is that the price tags approach adopted in Agenda 21 towards water supply and sanitation, as towards everything else, is mistaken. In general, they would seem to be right; exhortations of the Agenda 21 type have historically proved to be of little, if any, value .     

Water management since the adoption of the Mar del Plata Action Plan

In the 13 years since the United Nations Water Conference, the policies applied to the administration of water resources have undergone considerable modification in most countries. For most of this period no overall trend in the direction of change can be easily seen. Recently, however, with the general adoption of policies decentralizing water management responsibilities away from central governments, an opportunity has been presented for the general application of some of the basic management principles enunciated in the Mar del Plata Action Plan. This paper presents a review of current water administration policies and of water management problems in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean.     

Biomonitors of stream quality in agricultural areas: Fish versus invertebrates

Although the utility of using either fish or benthic invertebrates as biomonitors of stream quality has been clearly shown, there is little comparative information on the usefulness of the groups in any particular situation. We compared fish to invertebrate assemblages in their ability to reflect habitat quality of sediment-impacted streams in agricultural regions of northeast Missouri, USA. Habitat quality was measured by a combination of substrate composition, riparian type, buffer strip width, and land use. Invertebrates were more sensitive to habitat differences when structural measurements, species diversity and ordination, were used. Incorporating ecological measurements, by using the Index of Biological Integrity, increased the information obtained from the fish assemblage. The differential response of the two groups was attributed to the more direct impact of sediments on invertebrate life requisites; the impact of sedimentation on fish is considered more indirect and complex, affecting feeding and reproductive mechanisms.The Unit is sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Missouri Department of Conservation and the University of Missouri.