High Level Seminar on Water Legislation in Latin America

The objectives of the High Level Seminar on Water Legislation in Latin America are: To consider the situation of water laws in the region and its relationship with the normative and institutional instruments for the integrated management of water resources. Discuss the difficulties and opportunities encountered for the implementation of water laws and propose possible solutions ; Offer elements that allow them to be adopted by water laws for the improvement of integrated water resources management; Propose conclusions adopted by CODIA to the improvement of the implementation of ODS6 through a current, solid and effective water regulatory framework

The High Level Seminar on Water Legislation in Latin America is held prior to the XX Conference of Ibero-American Water Directors (CODIA), in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), on 4 November 2019. This seminar arises as a consequence of previous debates that have taken place in the High Level Seminar on Planning and Integrated Water Resources Management within the framework of ODS6, held prior to the III InterCODIA, in San José (Costa Rica), on 31 March 2019.This seminar emphasized the role of hydrological planning in advancing towards an adequate integrated management of water resources, in order to achieve the water objectives of Agenda 2030, including target 5 of ODS6: "to implement integrated management of water resources at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation". It was also concluded that in order for hydrological planning to be effective, it must generally have a normative character linked to the water law.

The CODIA plays an important role in the achievement of this goal in the Ibero-American space, as it brings together the water resources management authorities whose responsibility it is to promote the institutional and normative arrangements for the achievement of the ODS6. The International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO, which is co-organizing this Seminar with CODIA, is an intergovernmental programme focused on water security, through research, training, management and governance of water.

In the discussions held during the Costa Rica seminar, many CODIA members stated that there are technical and political barriers to promoting national water regulations, which makes it difficult to implement effective hydrological planning processes that can provide tangible results for the advancement of ODS6. The members of CODIA concluded that it would be useful to hold a more in-depth debate to analyse these difficulties and try to find common solutions within the CODIA work programme. As part of these solutions, the Costa Rican seminar identified the need to promote at the highest level the process of reviewing or approving water laws that allow for the development of hydrological planning.