The EUROCLIMA+ Urban Water Sector's Resilient ASADAS project identified the 60 Community Aqueduct Associations that will be part of the project, benefiting more than 222,000 users of the service.

10 June 2021. Bogotá, Colombia. With the announcement of the 60 Associations of Communal Aqueducts (ASADAS) of the Metropolitan and Central East region in Costa Rica that will benefit under the framework of Resilient ASADAS, this project of the EUROCLIMA+ Urban Water sector continues with the actions aimed at strengthening the capacities of the ASADAS, with the objective of improving the drinking water service and increasing their resilience to the effects of climate change, an initiative that will benefit the 222,000 users of the service.

The ASADAS, or Communal Aqueducts, are non-profit associations dedicated to bringing drinking water and sanitation services to their communities. In total, they are responsible for providing drinking water to 29 per cent of the population of Costa Rica:

"The management that the ASADA does in this community is extremely important because we have drinking water, which is what really gives us health, because with that clean water, we can do everything in our homes, we can drink water from the pipe and know that it is safe, one hundred per cent", said Mayela Montoya, beneficiary of the ASADA Poás, Aserrí.

However, ASADAS located in urban and peripheral areas are currently facing multiple climatic challenges, in addition to the pressure of urban growth, which is why many of them face water stress and require alternatives to protect their water sources or look for complementary sources:

"For several years we have had a strong decrease in water flows, which has caused the aqueduct to have to ration, especially in the dry season", says Francisco Hernández, administrator of the ASADA of Poás, Aserrí.

Strengthening through access to information and capacity building

Against this background, the work of the Resilient ASADAS project will consist of three stages, during which the teams of these 60 ASADAS will be trained on an ongoing basis:

• Year 1: a diagnosis of the 60 ASADAS and their water resource management will be carried out, the training strategy will be designed, Improvement and Efficiency Plans (PME) will be implemented in the ASADAS that have not applied them, and the process of Reduction of Non-Accounted Water (RANC) will be initiated.

• Year 2: the results of the diagnosis of the 60 ASADAS will be published, they will be provided with tools for Integrated Risk Management (GIRA) and Water Resource Protection Plans and Protection Tariffs (TPRH) will be implemented.

• Year 3: there will be training for officials of the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewerage - AyA. Finally, an evaluation of the ASADAS will be carried out, based on the diagnosis carried out during the first year to assess the impact of the implementation of the project.

During this process, emphasis will be placed on training community managers of drinking water services, providing them with tools to strengthen resilience and adaptation to climate change.

"Having the opportunity for the European Union, through EUROCLIMA+, to come and help us, either to encourage the protection of water resources in the population, or to train us to improve our management of the ASADA, is essential because it will help us to do things better," concluded Hernández.

The Resilient ASADAS project is part of the Urban Water sector of EUROCLIMA+ and is implemented by the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewerage - AyA, the Centre for Environmental Law and Natural Resources - CEDARENA and ARESEP, executed by the French Development Agency - AFD, and supported by the Ministry of Environment and Energy.

EUROCLIMA+ sector Water management with an urban resilience perspective

Through this sector of the EUROCLIMA+ programme implemented by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) and the French Development Agency (AFD), a total of seven projects will be implemented. For more information on each project, please visit: https://www.euroclima.org/en/water

About EUROCLIMA+

EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and UN Environment.

Contacts

For more information about EUROCLIMA+, contact Alexandra Cortés: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For information about the Urban Water sector of EUROCLIMA+, write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.