Piuray (Cusco) │ At Peru’s first National Water Summit, senior executives and general managers of 23 water utilities, representing 14 regions of Peru, signed the Piuray Declaration on November 9th, ratifying their commitment to protect the country’s source water areas and the natural environments that sustain them.
The Piuray Declaration contains seven specific commitments to accelerate the use of Mechanisms for Compensation for Ecosystem Services (MRSE in Spanish) to improve water security in Peru by conserving and restoring the ecosystems that function as Peru’s “natural infrastructure.”
The Piuray Declaration’s commitments prioritize the removal of bottlenecks to implementing natural infrastructure projects, in order to ensure more sustainable water and sanitation services for cities in Peru. The Declaration also commits water companies to reducing inequality in leadership opportunities for women in the water resources and sanitation services sector.
The first National Water Summit, organized by the Natural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) project in partnership with the National Superintendent of Sanitation Services (SUNASS), the National Association of Sanitation Services Providers (ANEPSSA), and the Ministry Environment (MINAM), aimed to support the implementation of MRSE in water and sanitation service providers.
“Compensation mechanisms for ecosystem services will improve the quality of water resources and ensure the supply of drinking water in the future,” says José Luis Becerra, General Manager of Cusco’s water service provider, SEDACUSCO.
Water service providers participating in the Summit have also committed more than US $33 million (PEN 114 million) for implementation of MRSE in the coming years.
In addition to the water service providers, the Declaration was also signed by the Acting Mayor of Chinchero District, the District’s Mayor-elect, ANEPSSA, MINAM, SUNASS, the National Water Authority (ANA), and the NIWS project, underscoring the importance of MRSE and the care of water sources for Peru’s future development.
The Natural Infrastructure for Water Security project is financed by USAID and the Government of Canada, and implemented by Forest Trends, CONDESAN, the Peruvian Society of Environmental Law, EcoDecision and experts from Imperial College London. The project aims to promote and facilitate investments in natural infrastructure, and to generate data and tools documenting how natural infrastructure can reduce water risks such as droughts, floods, and water pollution. The NIWS project will support Piuray Declaration signatories through technical assistance to implement a roadmap to meeting their MRSE commitments in the coming years.