12 December 2012: The latest issue of the Circular of the Network for Cooperation in Integrated Water Resource Management for Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) features the discussion of a study on legislative advances in sustainable and decentralized management of water in Latin America, accompanied by an editorial suggesting effective practices for basin-level management systems in the region.

Issue No. 37 of the Circular notes that while most LAC countries have built basin management systems into their legal frameworks as a step toward integrated water resource management (IWRM), many have not fully operationalized and consolidated these systems. The Circular suggests several effective practices for basin management bodies, including: substantive and permanent government support, subject to audits and inspection; representative composition; emphasis on dialogue and consensus building; operations based on formal protocols and guidelines, well-defined roles and functions, and objective criteria for decision making; support by a technical advisory body with legal character that retains, trains and adequately remunerates qualified personnel; and the capacity to charge for water and invest in the common interest of basin actors.

Circular No. 37 also reports on: a study of institutionalization of social equity in water policy in Chile; Peru’s adoption of a State Policy on Water resources; a study on factors influencing the industrial structure of the water and sewage sector; a Chilean seminar in November 2012 on IWRM; and new materials on water and sanitation policy in available on websites focused on LAC.

The Circular is issued semiannually by the Division of Natural Resources and Infrastructure of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which anchors the Network. The Network consists of private and public sector organizations throughout the region that are involved in the water and sanitation sector. [Publication: Circular of the Network for Cooperation in Integrated Water Resource Management for Sustainable Development, No. 37 (in Spanish)]