Instilling comprehensive management and technological approaches for the sustainable management of La Plata River Basin water resources

The La Plata River Basin is one of the largest international watersheds in the world (its area is about 3 million km2), rich in water and other natural resources that are essential for the economic development of the five countries that share its territory: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Together with the development of large reservoirs for energy and other water uses, extensive deforestation, intensive agriculture practices and large urban developments took place in the Paraná, Paraguay and Uruguay basins affecting environmental conditions and raising concerns about water resources use and conservation. There is an urgent need to broadly incorporate new water management paradigms – integrated water resources management, ecohydrology -, and new technological paradigms –environmentally sound technology (with a focus on non structural measures, ecotechnology, phytotechnology) - into regional, national and subnational decision making levels. Also, to disseminate them at the community level seeking, through top down and bottom up approaches, to promote stakeholder’s commitment and the coordination of all organizations in the region involved in said management. Strategic Action Programmes, based on a sound transboundary environmental diagnostic analysis, establishing priority widely agreed upon priority strategic actions to address the root causes of environmental degradation and non-governmental networking mechanisms to cooperate with governments in the implementation of these strategies, may become effective tools to achieve said objectives. Both experiences are currently being developed in the La Plata River Basin and their present outcomes are highly promising.