26 basins in the region will have georeferenced digital cartography that will be used to monitor the actions carried out by the FAPVS Foundation.
With the support of Cenicaña, 17 community organizations, members of the Fundación Fondo Agua por la Vida y la Sostenibilidad (FAPVS), will begin to build their own geographic information system Geocuencas.
This platform will integrate the georeferenced digital cartography of 26 hydrographic basins in the region, which will serve to evaluate the environmental impacts of the restoration and conservation actions carried out by the Foundation in its area of influence.
“Visualizing the effect of what we are doing for conservation in our watersheds has been a permanent need for water user associations. Many times that impact cannot be seen technically because we lack the tools. For that reason, Geocuencas will be an excellent opportunity for the growth of associations and of course for the environmental protection of our territory ”, said Jonny Carvajal, from the Association of Users of the Tuluá and Morales rivers.
The implementation of this project began on June 23 with the delivery of equipment (five computers and six GPS) by the CVC and the FAPVS Foundation to the associations for the management of geographic information. Cenicaña, for its part, began a cycle of training for the use of the equipment. Subsequently, these community organizations will start feeding the system with their geographic information.
“Cenicaña has capacity in terms of knowledge because it has managed the Automated Meteorological Network of the agro-industry for more than 20 years and more recently other information networks such as RTK and PM10. Because it is good to have the support of those who have experience, from here we will offer them support to have a common and permanent information base for their analysis ”, said Álvaro Amaya, director of Cenicaña.
For her part, Carolina Polanía, representative of the environmental organization The Nature Conservancy (TNC), an ally of the Foundation, highlighted the role of water user associations: “In most of the boards of water funds, the largest representation It is from the public and private sector. In the FAPVS Foundation the community representation is broad and of these associations. So that the same people who live in the countryside are the ones who implement the actions, follow up on them and also have a strong representation on the board is valuable and a factor of success in sustainability issues ”.
Representatives of the Water Associations with the Cenicaña technical team during the delivery of the computer and GPS equipment on June 23. KEEP IN MIND
Water funds are collective mechanisms where large water users contribute resources to finance conservation actions. In Colombia there are six funds: Agua Somos (Bogotá), FAPVS Foundation (Valle del Cauca), Cuenca Verde (Medellín), Madre Agua (Cali), Cartagena de Indias Water Fund and Cúcuta Water Fund.
