Private Enterprise and Financial Markets > Environment > Integrated Water Resources Management
Freshwater Ecosystem Conservation: Towards a Comprehensive Water Resources Management Strategy
By Enrique Bucher, Gonzalo Castro, Vinio Flores (12/97, ENV-114, En, Es)
From the coastal estuaries and deltas of Mexico, to the lakes of Central America, to the rivers and oxbow lakes of Amazonia, to the Pantanal of Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a region of vast and diverse freshwater ecosystems. The diversity of species present in these ecosystems is also truly extraordinary, particularly in the case of fish. Invertebrates and plants are also extremely diverse throughout the Amazon. Large portions of the region are still in the process of being occupied by humankind and developed, thus providing new opportunities for sustainable development.
Freshwater ecosystems (wetlands, lakes and rivers) are critical habitats for a variety of threatened species and provide many benefits to mankind. In addition to being the source of the region's water supply, they prevent and regulate floods, prevent saline water intrusion, ameliorate erosion impacts by retaining sediments, provide nutrient retention and toxicant removal, offer micro-climate stabilization, act as a global carbon sink, serve as a means of transport and are excellent sites for tourism. Much of what freshwater ecosystems provide, including forest, wildlife, fisheries, forage, agricultural and energy resources, is available for human use. For example, the use of genes from wild species occurring in wetlands is an important way of improving cultivated varieties of plants. The value of these products is often measured in millions of dollars annually for any given locality, representing an important source of income for rural and urban communities alike. Some wetlands also have social, cultural and historical significance.
Despite their importance, many freshwater ecosystems are frequently considered useless. Widespread ignorance about their importance has contributed to this notion and has promoted their destruction and degradation. Conservation of freshwater biodiversity has been seriously neglected throughout the world, and entire ecosystems are threatened with extinction. The primary cause of resource loss is habitat alteration, fueled by rapid population growth and unwise development, both planned and unplanned. Erosion and deforestation of the catchment basin forests has reached dramatic intensity along the eastern slopes of the Andes, from Colombia to northern Argentina. Rural development (mostly for rice cultivation) is affecting wetlands in the entire region. Pollution from mining and industry, as well as urban development, is a growing cause of concern (Comisión de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo de America Latina y el Caribe, 1996). The construction of dams and river channelization may also undermine important freshwater resources. Today, Latin America's main water resources are chemically and biologically contaminated to a considerable degree.
Unfortunately, freshwater sustainability issues do not appear to be a primary consideration in the planning and implementation of water use projects, nor in the allocation of use permits. In fact, water rights in most LAC countries are not conditional on their potential environmental impacts, nor can they be amended to ameliorate environmental threats. Present trends indicate that unless a sustainable water resources management policy is developed and put into practice effectively, the resource base will deteriorate at an accelerating rate (Lee, 1990). Developing a sustainable water resources management policy should be based on the following leading principles:
A holistic, ecosystem-based approach is required in order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the region's ecosystems. By ecosystem approach, we mean a management policy that perceives water resources as part of functional systems (such as whole basins or river/floodplains systems) in which the complex interconnections among physical and biotic components are adequately considered. Freshwater resource management should be part of a comprehensive approach to long-term planning and monitoring for the sustainable use of natural resources, including ecological, economic, and social aspects.
A new balance is required between the growing tendency toward privatization and globalization of the economy and the role of both civil society and the state in preventing the degradation of water resources.
Implementing these principles is far from easy. However, the environmental, social and economic losses that can be expected in the region if the present rate of degradation of its freshwater resources is not reverted are enormous.
Last updated: 03/21/07
