The Functions of the Water Resources Group

The Water Resources Group was created as a product of the modifications made to the functions of the Vice Ministry of the Environment related to the formulation and implementation of comprehensive water resource management. The Group''s functions are as follows:

• To promote comprehensive water resource management by defining information, planning, administration, control and monitoring policies.
• To design technical proposals for the regulation of water resources, in coordination with the Ministry''s other offices, depending on the subject matter.
• To establish guidelines and directives for the formulation of the plans and programs necessary to guarantee the availability of abundant quality water resources.
• To propose guidelines and criteria for the formulation of the Hydrographic Basin Management and Use Plans, in coordination with the Directorate of Ecosystems.
• To formulate the National Water Policy, and its respective plans and programs.
• To coordinate with the Directorate of Sustainable Sectoral Development on the preparation of technical regulatory proposals for the prevention and control of water pollution.
• To propose the technical regulations that are necessary for the establishment of quality parameters and standards for bodies of water, based on the expected uses of the resource.
• To formulate, design and coordinate actions, programs and projects for saving and efficiently using water resources and preventing their contamination.
• To establish, in coordination with the Vice Ministry of Water and Sanitation, policy guidelines related to the threat of, and the management of vulnerability to, the occurrence of natural disasters associated with water resources.
• To propose guidelines and regulations that promote plans, programs and projects to guarantee efficiency in the use and exploitation of underground waters.
• To coordinate, promote and guide research activities related to water resources, in collaboration with the Vice Ministry of Water and Sanitation and other related offices.
• To design, develop and implement technical assistance programs directed to the competent environmental authorities that enable the transfer of protocols, guides and tools that are designed for the proper management of water resources.
• To provide guidance for the water resource-related research and information collection activities undertaken by the institutes attached to the Ministry of the Environment, Housing and Territorial Development.
• To identify possible sources of financing for the strengthening of comprehensive water resource management, and to support the Office of International Affairs in the execution of relevant agreements with international cooperation agencies.
• To define policies related to the economic and administrative instruments developed for the management of water resources, in collaboration with related offices.