The San José de Chiquitos Water Steering Committee is making steady progress towards Water Governance and Security

March ended with a preliminary Coordination meeting of the Water Promotion Committee, which was held at the COMAYO RL Cooperative, with the aim of initiating contacts and aligning common agendas of the institutions that will participate and work in the formation of the technical tables, to enable the application of the resources allocated by the Government of Santa Cruz for the use of water in San José de Chiquitos.

Complementing this with a visit to the Mayor of San José, where the Cooperative and the Municipal Government exchanged views on needs, at COMAYO's suggestion, the mayor will formally request the Governor's Office to drill deep wells in 2022. Furthermore, it was agreed with the Water Promotion Committee that the 700,000 Bs. allocated by the Governor's Office should be used exclusively for developing a water use project in San José, at a location to be determined through technical meetings and/or by hiring a specialized consulting firm.

For its part, the Water Promotion Committee requested to assist the Municipal Government in drafting the “Municipal Water Law” and, as soon as this occurs, to develop in the short term a Municipal Regulation for an Ecological Pause in the drilling of deep wells in the urban area, except for those requested by the Municipality and COMAYO.

The participation of cooperating NGOs in the upcoming working groups was mentioned, such as the SAVIA Association, which is already supporting this important process, complemented by FCBC and others that may join the effort in synergy. The date for the establishment of the Technical Working Groups, in coordination with the Sub-Governor's Office of Chiquitos, will be announced soon. These meetings will take place in San José de Chiquitos, the capital of the Chiquitos Province.

Source: San José de Chiquitos Steering Committee