Regulatory framework
They are a set of inter-institutional planning and coordination strategies formulated and executed with the aim of achieving the comprehensive harmonization of resources and the implementation of efficient and sustainable schemes in the provision of household public services of drinking water and basic sanitation, taking into account local characteristics, the institutional capacity of territorial entities and people providing public services and the effective implementation of regionalization schemes.
The PDA has investments worth $1.5 billion in all departments except Arauca, for projects of:
• Aqueduct for $825,676 million
• Sewerage for $551,521 million
• Aqueduct and Sewerage for $126,154 million
• Cleaning for $24,813 million
• Risk for $17,758 million
• Rural Sewerage for $739 million
With the Agua al Campo program, the Ministry of Housing, City and Territory seeks to close the gaps in coverage, continuity and quality in rural areas of the country, through the implementation of differential schemes. The program is aimed at municipalities linked to the Departmental Water Plans, rural providers and organized communities.
Consider a special focus on water supply and basic sanitation in rural areas, in order to reduce the existing gap compared to urban areas.
Due to the above, the Ministry, through the Vice Ministry of Water and Basic Sanitation -VASB, structured jointly with the DNP the CONPES 3810 of 2014 Policy document, in order to comply with the provisions of the PDN 2010-2014: “Define a comprehensive aqueduct, sewage and sanitation policy for the rural sector, which is financed with contributions from the Nation and territorial entities, which must be articulated with the rural housing strategies of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The MVCT defines the “National Plan for Rural Drinking Water Supply and Basic Sanitation” with the strategic objective of ensuring access to drinking water and basic sanitation in rural areas and their sustainable management through appropriate technological solutions and active community participation processes. The National Plan for Water Supply and Sanitation in Rural Areas is a nationwide strategy that will benefit all rural areas of Colombia, prioritizing actions in regions belonging to the Territorially Focused Development Programs (PDET). The plan defined in this document is an integral part of the sectoral strategy for the fulfillment of Sustainable Development Goal 6, which refers to ensuring access to water and sustainable sanitation for all by 2030. In turn, this Plan is aligned with the National Development Plan 2018-2022 and the provisions of Line B. Clean water and adequate basic sanitation:
towards responsible, sustainable, and equitable management of the Pact for the Quality and Efficiency of Public Services:
water and energy to promote competitiveness and well-being for all.
The objective of this document is to analyze the coverage data at the national level of the aqueduct, sewage and sanitation services, with source information from the 2020 validity period reported by the territorial entities in the year 2021, where the places with the highest attention from the government, discriminated by type of service and region. Likewise, a state of the national panorama is presented regarding the status of goals 6.11 and 6.22 of the Sustainable Development Goals - SDG.
ARTICLE 3. Competencies of the departments. Without prejudice to what is established in other legal regulations, it is up to the departments to exercise the following powers related to the provision of public drinking water and basic sanitation services:
1. Contribute to the provision of public drinking water and basic sanitation services through the promotion, structuring and implementation of regional schemes.
2. Promote, coordinate and/or co-finance the operation of regional schemes for the provision of public drinking water and basic sanitation services.
3. Ensure that the inhabitants of districts or municipalities not certified in drinking water and basic sanitation are efficiently provided with public drinking water and basic sanitation services, in the terms of Law 142 of 1994.
4. Manage the resources of the General Participation System for Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation of non-certified districts and municipalities, with the exception of the Capital District of Bogotá.
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The National Development Plan 2022-2026 “Colombia, World Power of Life,” which is hereby enacted, aims to lay the foundations for the country to become a leader in the protection of life, based on the construction of a new social contract that promotes the overcoming of historical injustices and exclusions, the non-repetition of conflict, a change in the way we relate to the environment, and a productive transformation based on knowledge and in harmony with nature. The government program proposes that the transformations be carried out with the territory as the starting point.
This Resolution adopts the National Irrigation and Drainage Plan for the Rural, Family, and Community Economy (PNRECFC), formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Final Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, which Family and Community Farming Economy (PNRECFC), formulated in compliance with the provisions of the Final Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, which has the overall objective of increasing agricultural productivity and promoting comprehensive rural development in areas with peasant, family, and community farming through the provision of irrigation, drainage, and flood control infrastructure. The Plan will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and the Rural Development Agency (ADR), and progress will be reported through the Integrated Post-Conflict Information System (SIIPO).
This Resolution adopts the National Irrigation and Drainage Plan for the Rural, Family, and Community Economy (PNRECFC), formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Final Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, which Family and Community Farming Economy (PNRECFC), formulated in compliance with the provisions of the Final Agreement for the Termination of the Conflict and the Construction of a Stable and Lasting Peace, which has the overall objective of increasing agricultural productivity and promoting comprehensive rural development in areas with peasant, family, and community farming through the provision of irrigation, drainage, and flood control infrastructure. The Plan will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) and the Rural Development Agency (ADR), and progress will be reported through the Integrated Post-Conflict Information System (SIIPO).
The Comprehensive Strategy for Deforestation Control and Forest Management constitutes the country's National REDD+ Strategy, as required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The Strategy is a nationwide strategic instrument whose overall objective is to reduce deforestation and forest degradation by promoting and establishing forest management in Colombia, based on a comprehensive sustainable rural development approach that contributes to the well-being of local communities, promotes local development, and increases ecosystem resilience by fostering climate change adaptation and mitigation.
The objective of the National Climate Change Policy is to incorporate climate change management into public and private decision-making in order to advance along a path of climate-resilient, low-carbon development that reduces the risks of climate change and allows the opportunities it generates to be exploited.
The purpose of this instrument is to promote sustainable soil management in Colombia, within a comprehensive context that brings together biodiversity, water, and air conservation, land use planning, and risk management, contributing to sustainable development and the well-being of Colombians.
The Program for Efficient Water Use and Conservation shall be a five-year program based on an assessment of water supply sources and demand, and shall include annual targets for reducing losses, community education campaigns, the use of surface water, rainwater, and groundwater, incentives, and other aspects defined by the Regional Autonomous Corporations and other environmental authorities, water and sewerage service providers, entities managing irrigation and drainage projects, hydroelectric plants, and other users of the resource, as deemed appropriate for the fulfillment of the Program.
This document begins by providing a general overview of climate change, with an emphasis on adaptation. It then presents the results of a general characterization of actors involved in planning processes related to the central theme, followed by a description of projects identified in the municipality that are impacting adaptation components. Finally, it describes the projects, actions, or measures identified as necessary to more effectively address adaptation in the municipality of Tuluá.
The Portfolio of Strategies for Climate Change Adaptation in the Municipality of Guadalajara de Buga, Valle del Cauca, is a document prepared by the Valle del Cauca Regional Autonomous Corporation (CVC) in 2013 that establishes priority actions for climate change adaptation in the municipality. The document is based on an analysis of the potential impacts of climate change in the municipality, as well as its capacities and limitations for adaptation.
With the aim of promoting the development of family farming and the rural economy, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the National Rural Development Agency (ADR), will implement an irrigation and drainage plan to guarantee access to water for small producers.
The strategic framework of the policy is aimed at improving agricultural productivity through the provision of public irrigation, drainage, and flood protection services. Objectives are established that focus on consolidating information to improve planning, promoting inter-institutional coordination for project implementation, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of investments to achieve a greater impact on agricultural productivity, and updating the legal framework for the implementation of the ADT policy. The policy proposes a comprehensive approach to the development of land adaptation projects, which includes complementing irrigation, drainage, and flood protection components with other activities such as technical assistance, marketing, access to productive assets, innovation, research, and technological development. In addition, it emphasizes the need for better information management, inter-institutional coordination, optimization of investments, and updating of the regulatory framework to ensure the long-term sustainability of ADT projects.
The strategic framework of the policy is aimed at improving agricultural productivity through the provision of public irrigation, drainage, and flood protection services. Objectives are established that focus on consolidating information to improve planning, promoting inter-institutional coordination for project implementation, improving the effectiveness and efficiency of investments to achieve a greater impact on agricultural productivity, and updating the legal framework for the implementation of the ADT policy. The policy proposes a comprehensive approach to the development of land adaptation projects, which includes complementing irrigation, drainage, and flood protection components with other activities such as technical assistance, marketing, access to productive assets, innovation, research, and technological development. In addition, it emphasizes the need for better information management, inter-institutional coordination, optimization of investments, and updating of the regulatory framework to ensure the long-term sustainability of ADT projects.
The Policy establishes a framework for sustainable water management, considering both socioeconomic needs and ecosystem protection. The objective is to balance economic development with natural resource conservation, particularly in agricultural contexts. The policy addresses several challenges, such as insufficient information on water use and management, pollution from agricultural and industrial activities, and the vulnerability of supply due to extreme weather events such as El Niño and La Niña. To address these challenges, the policy includes strategies to improve planning, administration, and regulations related to water management. Specific measures include incorporating climate risk management into land use plans and developing programs for efficient water use and conservation in agriculture. In addition, the active participation of water users, including farmers, in decision-making and in monitoring investments and actions is promoted. A water culture is also fostered to raise awareness among the population about the importance of conservation and sustainable use.
Colombia's National Policy on Sustainable Production and Consumption recognizes the agro-industrial sector as strategic due to its high export and growth potential, especially in areas such as sugar, flowers, bananas, and biofuels. This resource-intensive sector shows significant potential for optimizing the use of energy, water, and raw materials. The policy highlights the importance of implementing good practices and clean technologies to reduce the carbon footprint and make use of waste. Agroindustry is undergoing constant transformation, which makes it sensitive to sustainability strategies, contributing directly to the overall goals of the policy.
The main objective of the Action Plan is to comprehensively address flood risks in this region, promoting a preventive and adaptive approach. The plan includes both structural interventions, such as the construction of dikes and adapted housing, and non-structural interventions, which seek to reduce the social and economic vulnerability of the population, strengthening their resilience to natural hazards. In addition, it focuses on the recovery and conservation of the region's natural wealth and cultural heritage, ensuring sustainable development. The plan also addresses climate change adaptation, taking into account the specific characteristics of La Mojana, a delta with high vulnerability to flooding, and will be implemented through a prioritization and cost-benefit analysis model.
The Strategy's primary objective is to strengthen the resilience of the Colombian agricultural sector to climate change. It is structured around five strategic lines, including: the generation and use of agroclimatic information; the implementation of sustainable practices; the improvement of resilience to extreme weather events; the promotion of investments in low-carbon rural development; and inter-institutional coordination. These actions seek not only to minimize the sector's climate vulnerability, but also to improve food security and the sustainable development of rural communities. Within this strategy, the concept of climate-smart agriculture stands out, which focuses on agricultural practices that increase productivity in a sustainable manner and contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The plan emphasizes the importance of techniques adapted to the Colombian context, such as silvopastoral systems and the establishment of climate-resistant crops.
Colombia's NDC incorporates three components: greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, climate change adaptation, and means of implementation. It defines targets and measures for climate change management for the period 2020-2030, establishing synergies with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It integrates considerations of human rights, intergenerational equity, just transition of the workforce, gender equality, a differential approach to ethnic communities and vulnerable populations, ecosystem integrity, biodiversity protection, and poverty eradication.
Institutional Framework
The Ministry of Housing, City and Territory defines and implements public policy through programs and projects that articulate access to water, basic sanitation, territorial planning, urban development, comprehensive management of water resources, housing solutions and sustainability, adapted to the needs of the territories to improve the quality of life of the population.
The Vice Ministry of Water and Basic Sanitation is responsible for promoting sustainable development through the formulation and adoption of policies, programs, projects and regulations for the population's access to drinking water and basic sanitation. The Ministry issues the corresponding regulations, formulates programs and provides financial support when the municipality cannot directly attend to the investments required.
It is a national entity created by Article 69 of Law 142 of 1994 as a Special Administrative Unit with administrative, technical, and patrimonial autonomy, governed by the Political Constitution and by law; without legal personality, attached to the Ministry of Housing, City, and Territory. Decree 1524 of 1994 delegated to it the functions relating to the establishment of general policies for the administration and control of the efficiency of residential public services, which Article 370 of the Political Constitution entrusts to the President of the Republic.Its main objective is to improve the market conditions for water, sewerage, and sanitation services in the country and contribute to the well-being of the Colombian population. It establishes the rules that must be followed by all public service providers (ESP) of water, sewerage, and sanitation services.
To advise the National Government and to participate in the formulation of policies on matters within the competence of the Superintendency.
2. To adopt the policies, methodologies, strategies and procedures to exercise supervision over the entities subject to its inspection, surveillance and control and the other activities to which Laws 142 and 143 of 1994 apply.
3. Monitor, inspect and control compliance by the supervised entities with the provisions that regulate the proper provision of residential public utilities and the protection of users.
4. To oversee, inspect and control the correct application of the tariff regime set by the respective Regulatory Commissions, by the providers of domiciliary public utilities.
5. To issue special technical standards, interpretations and guides on accounting and financial information and information assurance, which must be produced within the framework of the Political Constitution and Law 1314 of 2009.
6. To issue, when the Nation so requires for the granting of subsidies, certification on the correct application of the municipal decrees of adoption to the collection of the tariffs of domiciliary public utilities by the provider companies.
7. Adopt the relevant decisions to enforce the enforceability of the presumed administrative act resulting from the positive administrative silence referred to in Article 158 of Law 142 of 1994, or in the rule that replaces, amends or repeals it.
8. Administer, maintain and operate the Unified Information System - SUI, which will be supplied with information from public service providers subject to its control, inspection and surveillance, so that its presentation to the public is reliable, in accordance with the provisions of Article 53 of Law 142 of 1994.
9. Provide control officers with training to enable them to better organise their control work, and to have the necessary information to represent the Development and Social Control Committees.
10. Verify the technical, legal and economic incapacity of the providers of domiciliary public water and/or sewerage services that refuse to issue the certification of viability and immediate availability for the provision of these domiciliary public services and order, where appropriate, the granting of such viability and availability.
11. Define the assimilation of main or complementary activities that make up the value chain of public utilities and the obligation to incorporate as public utilities companies.
12. To oversee that the economic entities under inspection, surveillance and control of the Superintendency comply with accounting, financial information and information assurance standards, and to apply the penalties that may be applicable for violations thereof.
13. To oversee that the providers of domiciliary public utilities publish the evaluations made by the External Auditors of Management and Results at least once a year, in the mass media in the territory where they provide the service, if any, and that they are widely disseminated among users.
14. To instruct the supervised entities to demand only those requirements, formalities or procedures that are strictly necessary.
15. To hear appeals against the decisions of the providers of domiciliary public utilities regarding socio-economic stratification when this has not been adopted by municipal or district decree, in the terms of paragraph 2 of article 6 of Law 732 of 2002.
16. To resolve appeals lodged against the administrative acts by which the constitution of the Development and Social Control Committees and the elections of their boards of directors, referred to in paragraph 9 of article 10 of Law 689 of 2011, are decided.
17. To issue the concepts that within the framework of the takeover and/or liquidation procedure correspond to the Financial Institutions Guarantee Fund under the terms of the Organic Statute of the Financial System and its regulatory Decrees, insofar as they are relevant and in accordance with the remission contained in Article 121 of Law 142 of 1994.
18. To require modifications to the statutes of decentralised entities that provide public services, which do not comply with the provisions of Law 142 of 1994 or other laws that modify, substitute or complement it.
19. Sanction, in accordance with the provisions of numeral 4 of Article 80 of Law 142 of 1994, companies that do not respond in a timely and adequate manner to user complaints.
20. To order the removal of managers and members of the boards of directors of domiciliary public utilities when there is repeated non-compliance with efficiency indices, management indicators and quality standards.
21. Order the liquidation of the intervened public utilities companies, when necessary.
22. To issue certification to the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN), on the accepted value of the actuarial calculation of public service providers, under the terms set forth in the regulations in force.
23. Authorise the mechanisms for the normalisation of pension liabilities, as requested, after verification and analysis of the corresponding actuarial study, in accordance with the regulations in force.
24. Any other functions assigned to it by the Constitution or the law.
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It is a social, civic and community organization, of a supportive nature, non-profit, private, autonomous, with legal status and its own assets, made up of the inhabitants over 14 years of age of a neighborhood, village or territory, which is They organize with the aim of solving the most pressing problems of their community.
They are a group of people affiliated with the Contributory, Subsidized, and Poor and Vulnerable (linked) regimes, who are entitled to receive services that promote their health and to use health services in accordance with their affiliation system and demand them. They will fundamentally ensure the quality of service and the defense of the rights and duties of all users.
It is a georeferenced information system with data on communities, systems, service providers, and technical assistance providers. It allows for data capture and processing to facilitate planning, monitoring, analysis, reporting, and decision-making. The use of SIASAR facilitates: i) Diagnosing the status of water and basic sanitation services in rural areas of the country; ii) Support the planning, coordination, and evaluation of actions by different actors in the sector; iii) Monitor the coverage, quality, and sustainability of rural water supply and sanitation services; iv) Record the performance of technical assistance providers, including their logistical limitations; and v) Measure the efficiency and effectiveness of projects in the sector.
In 1955 the aqueduct was separated from the tram and joined the sewer system, creating the Bogotá Aqueduct and Sewer Company -EAAB-, through agreement 105 of the city's Administrative Council. The development of studies to bring more water began. to Bogotá and began construction of the Tibitoc treatment plant, which was completed in 1959 with an initial capacity of 3.5 cubic meters per second. The 2 subsequent expansions now allow for a capacity of 10.4 cubic meters per second. This plant was the first large-scale system in the city. It is supplied with water from the Bogotá River that is pumped to the plant.
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We provide well-being to the inhabitants of the ten municipalities of the Aburrá Valley: Medellín, Bello, Envigado, Itagüí, La Estrella, Sabaneta, Copacabana, Girardota, Caldas and Barbosa. In eastern Antioquia we reach the municipalities of Rionegro and El Retiro through comprehensive management of the water cycle: supply of excellent quality water and collection and treatment of wastewater, services that we provide with certified quality in all phases of the process.
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EMCALI contributes to the well-being and development of Valle del Cauca, providing quality, timely and committed services to the environment, guaranteeing economic and social profitability and providing the conditions that facilitate the social and economic progress of the region.
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Colombia is rich in water, but that wealth does not reach all Colombians. Although it is one of the nine territories in the world with the greatest water resources, a third of its urban population is affected by water stress. As a result of climate change and population growth, water availability has been decreasing over the last two decades. From extreme droughts to severe floods, Colombia is already showing symptoms of water insecurity throughout its territory, reflecting its problems of water “excess, scarcity and contamination”.391 municipalities are already exposed to the risk of water scarcity, and the long-term trend indicates that many more will suffer the same fate.
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Climate change is increasing rainfall anomalies, and average temperatures are projected to rise by as much as 2.14 degrees by the end of the century. The likely result will be more droughts and floods, increased frequency and intensity of El Niño and La Niña events, and the rapid and steady loss of glaciers, which have already retreated by 60% over the past 50 years.