Colombia has approximately 900,000 hectares of irrigated agriculture, mostly located in the warm center, Magdalena, Cauca and Tolima Valleys, and the northeast near Venezuela’s border and along the Caribbean coast.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 62% of the functional irrigable land in Colombia has been developed and managed by the private sector.
Colombia has a considerable potential to expand land under irrigation due to high rainfall and fertile volcanic soil creating conditions favorable for a wide range of crops.
In addition, agricultural runoff including chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides are taking an increasing toll on Colombian ecosystems.
[3] Water users associations (WUA), such as Coello and Saldaña in Tolima district, become very active and lobbied the government for infrastructure management transfer.
[3] In the 1970s with the creation of the Institute for Hydrology, Meteorology and Land Development (HIMAT) the government aimed at increasing water users’ capacity to eventually take over management of irrigation systems.
The "delegation of administration" did not include transfer of ownership for scheme assets nor full WUA control over budgets, operation and maintenance (O&M) plans and personnel.
However, after experiencing difficulties transferring Maria Baja and other districts the government discontinued implementation aiming at better addressing some of the challenges the remaining associations had.
Most of the irrigated areas are located in the warm center, Magdalena and Cauca Valleys, and the northeast near Venezuela's border and along the Caribbean coast.
[4] Colombian Main watersheds Source: FAO (2000) According to Marin Ramirez (1991), as quoted in the National Report on Water Resources Management in Colombia, the predominance of gravity irrigation systems are due to both the sense of water being an abundant and cheap resource and the high upfront costs for improved irrigation techniques.
In addition, agricultural runoff including chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides are taking an increasing toll on Colombian ecosystems.
Hydrological temperature changes would result in a loss of biodiversity and the services attached to those such as water supply, basin regulation and hydropower.
The Law incorporates users’ participation in design, building, and posterior operation and maintenance (O&M) by establishing a water fee which includes a fraction of the total costs.
The National Council for Land Management (CONSUAT) is the Agriculture Ministry's principal advisor and INAT – together with other public and private entities – is its executive branch.
The National Fund for Land Management is an administrative unit in charge of designing and implementing irrigation, drainage and flood control infrastructure.
[7] There are also the usual legal considerations that need to be checked when developing PPPs in any sector, such as legal restrictions on the type of PPP arrangement that can be entered into, relevant procurement rules for entering into PPPs, existence of restrictions on foreign investment, taxation and potential for tax holidays and the ability to assign rights such as security and step in rights to lenders.
[7] The Coello irrigation district is located about 150 kilometers from the capital, Bogota on the left bank of the Magdalena River in the Department of Tolima.
[8] Under Colombian law all beneficiaries of public works must pay a land appreciation surcharge proportionate to the value of the government's investment.
Water rates are fixed once a year by HIHAT's Board of Directors before the first planting season starts, at the time of budget preparation.
In setting the fixed and volumetric water rates, HIMAT determines the users’ contribution to O&M costs, the government pays the difference.
The Inter- American Development Bank worked together with the Colombian government in the 1990s in the creation of a National Irrigation Program and an Irrigation and Drainage Program to support the government's strategy for land improvement and to seek private-sector involvement in efforts to modernize Colombia's agriculture sector.
Researchers Carlos Garces-Restrepo and Doublas L. Vermillion studied the impact of management transfer to water users’ organizations in selected irrigation systems, namely RUT, Rio Recio, Samaca, San Rafael y Maria La Baja.