Water resources management in Uruguay
The institutional framework for water resources management consists of sectoral governmental agencies at the national and regional level.
With an estimated annual recharge rate of 160–250 km3 and more than 40 km3 available for consumption, the Guaraní aquifer could supply daily 300 liters of water per capita to 360 million people.
[1] The neighbor countries are implementing an Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management project together with the Organization of American States and the World Bank.
[4] The Ministry of Housing, Territorial Organization and Environmental (MVOTMA for its acronym in Spanish) considers that water quality in Uruguay is slowly decreasing due to the release of untreated effluents from industries and cities as well as agricultural runoff.
[1] Uruguay is the only country in Latin America that has achieved quasi universal coverage of access to safe drinking water supply and adequate sanitation.
Given these achievements, the government's priority is to improve the efficiency of services and to expand access to sewerage, where appropriate, in areas where on-site sanitation is used.
According to 2002 data, energy supply is dominated by hydropower generation (51%), followed by crude oil (34%), wood (11%), biomass (3%) and natural gas (1%).
[7] The neighbor countries are implementing an Environmental Protection and Sustainable Management project together with the Organization of American States and the World Bank.
The National Water Authority in Uruguay is the executive branch of the Uruguayan Government together with the Public Works and Transport Ministry (MTOP for its acronym in Spanish) and the MVOTMA.
The MTOP, through its National Hydrographic Directorate, is responsible for the operation of the water network, execution of hydraulic works, and management of irrigation systems.
The MTOP, through its Hydraulic Division, also engages in the processing of licenses and concessions, and the operation of the National Hydrological Data Bank The MVOTMA, through its National Environmental Directorate (DINAMA for its acronym in Spanish), is responsible for monitoring water quality as well as protecting water resources against environmental degradation.
However, the Uruguayan Government has not yet established a methodology to determine fees for different users, so that water abstraction from the environment remains free.
Despite the fact that irrigated rice fields still maintain a relatively high importance, the Project decisively supported diversification.
Also, the first phase of the National Water and Sanitation Company (OSE) modernization and systems rehabilitation project was supported by a 27 million US dollars loan approved in June 2000.
OSE was able to successfully implement and disseminate an in-house reference system that compares performance of the water utility in 21 cities, on the basis of eight service quality indicators.
Finally, three new sewage treatment plants were built in the cities of Minas, Treinta y Tres and Durazno, with a total capacity to serve 60,000 users.
The Argentinian side of the conflict is concerned about the environmental and social impacts of pulp byproducts as well as the lack of prior consultation of the Uruguayan Gonverment according to the international water sharing treaty signed by both countries.
Uruguay, on the other hand, claims that Argentina was informed of the projects, yet the treaty does not require Argentinian's approval to be implemented and that the technology used in the mills would avoid polluting the river.
