lake titicaca basin: peru and bolivia · bridge case study –lake titicaca basin: peru and bolivia...

Lake Titicaca Basin:Peru and BoliviaEnhancing transboundary cooperation throughtechnical coordination and institutional reforms

IUCN WATER PROGRAMME – BRIDGE CASE STUDY: LAKE TITICACA

The designation of geographical entities in this case study, and the presentation of the material, do not implythe expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or the Swiss Agency for Development andCooperation concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerningthe delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or the Swiss Agency forDevelopment and Cooperation.

The BRIDGE project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland

Copyright: © 2013 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes isauthorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided thesource is fully acknowledged.

Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibitedwithout prior written permission of the copyright holder.

Citation: MacQuarrie, Patrick R., Welling, Rebecca and Mario Aguirre. Lake Titicaca Basin: Peru and Bolivia. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 12pp.

Photographs: Cover IUCN/Carla Vaucher, p.5, p.6, p.8 IUCN/Mario Aguirre, p.11 IUCN/Patrick MacQuarrie

Layout by: Tim Davis, DJEnvironmental, UK

Printed by: UniPrint, Nyon, Switzerland

Available from: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)IUCN Global Water ProgrammeRue Mauverney 281196 GlandSwitzerlandTel +41 22 999 0000Fax +41 22 999 [email protected]/publications

BRIDGE Case Study – Lake Titicaca Basin: Peru and Bolivia 1

LAKE TITICACA BASIN: PERU AND BOLIVIAEnhancing transboundary cooperation through technicalcoordination and institutional reformsPatrick R. MacQuarrie, Rebecca Welling and Mario Aguirre

Lake Titicaca exists within a fragile high altitude ecosystem shared between Boliva and Peru. Since 2011,BRIDGE has been working in Lake Titicaca basin taking a non-conventional approach to water diplomacy pro-

moting better cooperation. The region has a long history of technical expertise and water resource managementwith a transboundary institution established in 1993 on Lake Titicaca. Over the last two decades increasing devel-opment has put pressure on politicians to address necessary reforms of national and bi-national water institutionsgoverning the basin.

Responding to these challenges, BRIDGE has played an essential role in enabling and facilitating changes througha multi-level water diplomacy programme to build good water governance capacity. The programme uses a com-bination of knowledge and information tools, procedural advice and technical support, capacity building andtraining to strengthen relations between stakeholders across local, provincial, national, and regional levels.

Experiences in Lake Titicaca have illustrated that water diplomacy is a stepwise process that must incorporate amultiplicity of agreements. While under the authority of national governments, working across scales has thepotential to encourage cooperation among multiple stakeholders, including at the level of municipalities andprovinces. For cooperation to occur, space must be developed for dialogue and shared learning to create an envi-ronment where joint actions can be taken. A key learning from the Lake Titicaca case study is that water gover-nance can be achieved through a variety of institutional arrangements ranging from formal regional authorities toinformal leadership networks that transmit essential knowledge through non-conventional channels. BRIDGE hasalso learned that formal changes can come from a series of seemingly unpredictable steps by altering stake-holders thinking and actions through discourse – influenced by knowledge and training.

Highlighted results

Completed river basin maps and prototype of water information system portal website for threebasins in the Andes.

Initiated an Andean Community General Secretariat strategy for a regional Water Information Systemas part of the Andean IWRM implementation.

Collecting hydro-meteorological data for the Lake Titicaca Basin.

Conducted regional workshops to cooperate on institutional issues for transboundary watermanagement, leadership development and benefit sharing.

Developed a work plan with the Andean Community General Secretariat outlining a regional IWRMstrategy on knowledge management, capacity building, and IWRM in transboundary basins.

Collaborated with the Andean Community General Secretariat to include Colombia in programmeactivities.

Conducted hydro-diplomacy courses with the Andean Community General Secretariat and theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Peru.

THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT IN LAKE TITICACA

The Titicaca Basin Authority is governed and regulatedby statute as an entity of international public law. It isauthorised by both Bolivia and Peru to manage allactivities under the Master Plan of the Titicaca basin.Its work spans across projects ranging from, for exam-ple: biodiversity conservation, isotropic water bal-ances, ecosystem evaluation, dredging of theDesaguadero River, identification of protected areas,and electrification projects along river banks.

In 2010, with the support of UNEP, the Titicaca BasinAuthority developed an IWRM and water quality mon-itoring plan. Results of this project have been a keyinstitutional and technical entry point for BRIDGE andwater diplomacy in the basin.

Lake Titicaca is sharedbetween Bolivia and

Peru and covers an area of143,900 square kilometres.The area coincides with theplateau region of Puno, Peruand areas of La Paz andOruro in Bolivia. The Titicacabasin is composed of LakeTiticaca and Desaguadero,Poopó and Coipasa riverbasins, often referred to asthe TDPS basin. The com-bined estimated populationin the basin is over 2.7 mil-lion in habitants (2005 cen-sus data) with almost 1.4million (42%) living on thePeruvian side and nearly 1.6million (58%) in Bolivia.

The Titicaca plateau is oneof the poorest areas of Peruand Bolivia and experiencesa high variability in terms ofits weather patterns. Due tothis there is a high level ofuncertainty, and risk, livingunder such conditions.

Due to a series of naturallyoccurring and devastatingevents in the last 30 years, the countries of Peru andBolivia agreed on the need to jointly manage thewaters of Lake Titicaca. Extreme rainy seasons theearly and late 1980s plagued the region, causing overa hundred million dollars of damage to infrastructureand the agricultural industry.

In part due to the drastic weather events but also to thehydraulic complexity of the basin, Lake Titicaca is man-aged through a bi-national authority called AutoridadBinacional Autónoma del Sistema Hídrico del Lago Tit-icaca, referred to here as the Titicaca Basin Authority,or ALT. Formed in 1996 by treaty from Bolivia and Peru,as a bi-national entity, it has responsibility for the man-agement and development of the Titicaca basin.

2 BRIDGE Case Study – Lake Titicaca Basin: Peru and Bolivia

Figure 1. Map of the Titicaca basin that includes Lake Titicaca,Desaguadero, Poopó and Coipasa river basins (TDPS).

Credit: J. Villa; M. Aguirre, P. MacQuarrie, IUCN


There have been significant challenges in dispens-ing the Titicaca Basin Authority’s responsibilities

due to a number of political and institutional factors.The institution reports directly to the Department of For-eign Affairs from both Peru and Bolivia and is thereforeprimarily accountable to officials at ministerial levels.Additionally, legal constraints have limited how the Tit-icaca Basin Authority functions as a water manage-ment organisation. Bolivia does not have acomprehensive water law and this complicates theexecution of water management activities on the Boli-vian side of the basin.

Institutional constraints have prevented the TiticacaBasin Authority from having broad and effective inter-actions with water users at multiple levels. Most of theorganisation’s involvement with stakeholders has beenthrough public consultations for informational events.As a result the institution has struggled to gain credi-bility and legitimacy from municipalities and provincialwater users.

Another constraint to transboundary cooperation inLake Titicaca has been the mandate of the BasinAuthority. The Master Plan was originally focused ontechnical projects neglecting institutional and partici-patory processes. This prompted calls to revise it tobetter reflect a wider range of stakeholder needs andconcerns.

Recently both Bolivia and Peru have called for a reviewof the Titicaca Basin Authority’s mandate and its role inthe management of water in the Titicaca basin. Partic-ular attention has been given to increasing public par-ticipation in dialogue with the Titicaca Basin Authoritythrough workshops and other opportunities facilitatedby BRIDGE. Many municipalities and civil societyorganisations have asked for a more ‘modern’ basinorganisation, signaling great potential in facilitating dis-cussions among national, provincial, and municipallevels.

CHALLENGES TO COOPERATION

Figure 2. BRIDGE in a diversity of transboundary basins around the world.


Figure 3. Building River Dialogue and Governance (BRIDGE) strategic process.

BRIDGE ACTIONS, MECHANISMS AND TOOLS

Implementing water diplomacy is not a simpleprocess and BRIDGE incorporates a number ofmechanisms and tools in Lake Titicaca. First, it usesdemonstration of how to make cooperation opera-tional in a basin as the basis for confidence and trustbuilding through shared learning and joint action onconcrete steps in building national and transboundarywater governance capacity. Second, through learn-ing, BRIDGE uses training and capacity building formultiple stakeholders, including municipal and civilsociety actors as well as high-level national officials, inwater governance, international water law and benefitsharing to improve understanding. Third, it facilitatesdialogue for consensus building using demonstra-tion actions and learning events to catalyse new dia-logues on technical, development and politicalmatters. Fourth, BRIDGE implements leadership pro-grammes supporting the empowering of championsfor transboundary water cooperation and better watergovernance who can effectively advocate for mobili-sation of water diplomacy. Finally, through advice andsupport functions, BRIDGE provides advice ondemand and technical assistance to governments andstakeholders on water governance, including on effec-tive institutional and legal frameworks, and communi-cations to promote applications of lessons learned,advice and demonstration results in transboundary hotspots regionally and globally. Actions carried out in theLake Titicaca Basin are outlined next.

Institutional reform and coordination

BRIDGE activities have supported the process ofreforming the Titicaca Basin Authority to rebuilding trustand support from local stakeholders and sub-nationalinstitutions of Bolivia and Peru. At the basin level, sup-port was given to the technical commissions in thedevelopment of the update of transboundary Statutes.Under the guidance of the IUCN Environmental LawCentre (ELC), analysis of the institutional and legalframework was conducted providing input into theprocess of updating Statutes that govern the TiticacaBasin Authority. Through workshops in both Bolivia andPeru, dialogue and exchanges were held with a widerange of stakeholders contributing to the process ofreviewing the operating statutes of the Titicaca BasinAuthority. Expanding the participation of stakeholdersin the Titicaca Basin Authority was a priority, includingsub-national and provincial authorities, municipalities,and local water users.

Working with institutional partners at the national level,BRIDGE coordinated meetings bringing together Mete-orological and Hydrological Service (SENAMHI) inBolivia and Peru to facilitate coordination of the hydro-meteorological network of the basin. During and as partof this coordination process, an agreement emergedover establishing a common reference (datum) for LakeTiticaca. Previous this was a contentious issue with no


Andean countries. Building upon actions andincreased cooperation at the national level, two trans-boundary technical working groups were created. Thefirst brought together SENAMHI Bolivia and SENAMHIPeru on hydrometeorological monitoring. The secondbrought together water supply utilities from citiesinside the Titicaca basin, such as El Alto and Oruro inBolivia, and Puno and Juliaca in Peru, linking urbanwater supply with water sanitation. Water usersinvolved in these dialogues were further supportedthrough workshops, training courses, and leadershipdevelopment activities.

Technical coordination with national agencies haspaved the way for influencing regional IWRM strate-gies. Seizing upon this momentum, BRIDGE co-ledthe implementations of transboundary components ofthe Andean IWRM Strategy through facilitating a seriesof workshops. The strategy called for regional actionon knowledge management, capacity building and

common agreement. Significantly, a commitment to ahave a joint monitoring system was also agreed andhas since extended to basins outside the Titicaca suchas the Zarumilla and Catamayo-Chira basins, bothshared between Ecuador and Peru.

Again using technical coordination as a precursor tocooperation, the adoption of a common mappingmethodology for the basin by the national water agen-cies and the Titicaca Basin Authority led to establish-ing a prototype for a common Water InformationSystem.

This required getting consensus for a local-level infor-mation system while also moving towards a regionalapproach with the Andean Community General Sec-retariat. Working together, BRIDGE initiated work-shops on the National Water Information System withdelegates from Hydrological and Meteorological insti-tutes and the national water agencies from four

BRIDGE Workshop with the Andean Community General Secretariat.



IWRM in transboundary river basins – areas influencedlargely by ongoing project work at national levels. Innearly all the cases reported above, increased coop-eration was precipitated by stepwise coordination oversubstantive issues such as data, knowledge systems,or technical coordination and agreements.

Water Information System and data exchange

In the Lake Titicaca basin, sharing technical informationand knowledge has been a stepping stone to greatercoordination and wider cooperation. The use of maps,water information systems, and monitoring protocolshave served as precursors to gaining agreement and


BOX 1. We Needed a Mediator, and IUCN was a Neutral Party

In the Andes, where Lake Titicaca crosses the border between Peru and Bolivia, public officialscould not even seem to agree on a common set of principles for maps, instruments andmeasurements for basic record keeping. After a couple of foreign journalists questioned how thenumbers for the lake’s water level could be different in the respective countries, something that isphysically impossible, the bi-national authority Titicaca Basin Authority teamed up with IUCN to helpcome up with a solution. Bernardino Tapia Aguilar, a hydrometeorology specialist at the NationalService of Meteorology and Hydrology regional office in Puno, Peru made the point, “We needed amediator, and IUCN was a neutral party.”

Collecting bundles of totora reeds for the islands of Lake Titicaca, in Chucuito Puno, Peru.


greater technical coordination. This has beensupported to some extent by pre-existing technicalcapacities within State water agencies and the TiticacaBasin Authority.

The use of knowledge and information systems is notnew in water management. However, in the case ofBRIDGE, it has been utilised in new ways. First, ratherthan focus on the data itself, which is often the ten-dency with water professionals, interventions empha-sised the process of bringing groups together todiscuss and seek agreement on issues. Secondly, theprocess has focused on small deliberate steps, ratherthan larger achievements on formal agreements, suchas water allocations or boundary issues. These stepswere enabled by a series of capacity building andleadership activities.

Capacity building and leadership

BRIDGE has supported a range of capacity buildingand leadership activities in the Andes ranging fromtransboundary and national water governance andbenefit sharing to institutional issues at different scales.At the regional level, workshops and training courseson hydro-diplomacy were conducted with the AndeanCommunity General Secretariat and the Ministry ofForeign Affairs of Peru. A regional workshop was alsoconducted in La Paz on cooperation and institutionalissues for transboundary water management in the Tit-icaca basin providing important inputs to the institu-tional reform process of the Titicaca Basin Authorityled by Bolivia and Peru. Another workshop, this timewith the General Secretariat of the Andean Community,focused on developing a work plan between theAndean IWRM and BRIDGE, resulting in agreementover key actions on knowledge management (includ-ing a regional water information system), capacitybuilding (including hydro-diplomacy training courses),and IWRM implementation in transboundary riverbasins.

At the national and provincial levels, key training washeld on benefit sharing and water governance inPuno, Peru, where over 25 water users participatedfrom local, municipal, provincial, and national levelsof government. Trainings at the national level werealso held on water information systems and were verysuccessful in providing a space for agreement on theprototype of water information system to be sharedby Peru and Ecuador and the Andean Community.

Again at the national level and a key indication of trust,the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from both Bolivia andPeru asked BRIDGE to hold workshops on trans-boundary water management focusing on institutionalcapacities.

Champion’s Network

Through BRIDGE, a very active and influential group ofleaders referred to as the Leadership, or Champion’sNetwork, has formed to focus on advocacy of goodwater governance and water management in trans-boundary basins. The group, composed of local,national and regional leaders have begun to shareexperiences on transboundary water managementacross transboundary river basins in the Andes region.

The Network met several times, initially only to shareexperiences about water management in transbound-ary river basins. However, since then, it has quicklytransformed into a dynamic group of leaders with influ-ence towards the creation of institutions for trans-boundary water management and act as a vehicle forpromoting good governance in transboundary basins.Equally important, the group has embraced gender-balanced participation fostering greater participation ofwomen and as leaders in water management.

Advice and support facilities

Support Facilities have been a key component ofBRIDGE, completing and delivering water gover-nance capacity training packages and ‘Train-the-Trainer’ workshops and providing crucial and timelytechnical support through the Water Law and Gov-ernance Support Platform (www.waterlawand-governance.org). Examples include requests fromthe Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bolivia and Peru forhydro-diplomacy training and situational and institu-tional analysis of South American basins. Capacitybuilding activities focused on water governance andbenefit sharing training, ‘Train-the Trainers’ workshopsand supporting the formation of the Champion’s Net-work through further training and knowledgeresources. These products included water gover-nance toolkits from the Water and Nature Initiative(WANI) such as SHARE, RULE and NEGOTIATEwhich were translated into Spanish. These havebecome key resources for delivering and communi-cating good water governance knowledge withprovincial and national stakeholders.




BOX 2. When Capacity Building Builds More than Capacity

The law of unintended consequences also allows for positive outcomes. Even subtle ones. “Whenwe meet with the Peruvians, we all speak the same language because of the workshops,” saidOscar Céspedes, general director of watersheds and water resources in the Ministry of theEnvironment and Water in Bolivia. “At the capacity building sessions we come together, and we seethat we are really brothers. When we meet again, the process of formulating proposals and makingadjustments takes less time and the outcomes are more sustainable over time. It helps that we havetalked to these people before. We don’t dwell on petty topics.”

Third Leadership and Champion’s Network workshop at Chucuito Puno in Peru in the Titicaca basin.


SOLUTIONS AND INTERVENTION RESULTS

L ake Titicaca is fortunate to possess many of theingredients for transboundary cooperation. It has a

well established bi-national institution with a firm man-date to manage Lake Titicaca. It has several associ-ated technical committees staffed with well qualifiedwater professionals. It has the highest political supportin both Bolivia and Peru. Given all these strengths, whydoes the Titicaca Basin Authority need reform? Manyagreed the organisation needed restructuring. Thequestion was not whether or not to reform, but whatand how to reform. This is where BRIDGE comes in.

Water diplomacy in transboundary basin is often aboutchanging the dynamic on the ground while workingacross several levels of water governance. The seedsof change are often already planted but need food andwater to grow. Workshops on water governance deliv-ered to the ministries did not simply give informationand knowledge to diplomats. They provided a spaceand context to change the discourse on transbound-ary water management. They opened avenues andideas that eventually prompted a path forward on areform agenda for the bi-national institution. Impor-tantly, through dialogue and knowledge, once deci-sions were made to move forward, BRIDGE was thereto give the appropriate legal and procedural expertiseto support the interest of governments with reforms.

At the same time, through a completely different entrypoint, water diplomacy was working through the exist-ing bi-national authority. Workshops on IWRM andwater information systems, drawing upon technicalstrengths in the region and national water agencies,prompted water users to meet and address issuesover maps and monitoring systems. This approachbrought several strategies together – the sharing of

knowledge and information, opportunities for dialogue,and demonstrations of successful cooperation – toconstitute a stepwise process for water diplomacy andtransboundary cooperation.

Importantly, active engagement with national wateragencies and state ministries has scaled up to theregional Andrean Community. Facilitation of workshopsjointly with the Andean Community on IWRM has ledto the development of a regional work plan to invest inknowledge management, capacity building and IWRMimplementation in transboundary river basins. This isan example of where demonstrations at provincial andnational scales can create an enabling environment forgreater regional cooperation. Progress in the Titicacabasin has promoted formalisation of cooperation inseveral river basins in the Andean region. Colombiaand Ecuador have renewed interest in components ofthe IWRM plan as do members of the Amazon Coop-eration Treaty Organisation.

BRIDGE in Lake Titicaca has employed non-traditionalmethodologies to trigger and produce greater trans-boundary cooperation in water management. Theresults have produced effective and successful tech-nical results such as common mapping formats, a pro-totype regional Water Information System, andprogress updating Master Plan and IWRM implemen-tation. Next steps will focus on formalising the coop-erative arrangements that have been achieved –transforming informal agreements into formal arrange-ments. This combined approach to interventions hasled to a chain of events that have resulted in concretesteps towards greater cooperation. Some key eventsare included in Table 1.


Table 1. Key events enhancing cooperation and intervention strategies.

Year Event Intervention Strategy

2011

4 Creation of technical bi-national support group established by SENAMHI Bolivia and SENAMHI Peru

Technical coordination; learning andworkshops, meetings to formalise

4 Hydrological maps officially recognised byBolivia on 2011 and previously by Peru

Technical agreement

4 Creation of a transboundary area withinNational Water Authority ANA of Peru

Learning & workshops and training

4 TDPS maps under the same methodologybeing developed

Technical agreement

2012

4 Workshop to provide inputs to the revision of the Statute of bi-national authority forTDPS, ALT

Advice and support on institutions, learning&workshops, IWRM

4 Water Information System design begins Technical coordination

4 Creation of an transboundary water issues Sub-direction (Peru)

Advice and support on institutions, learning & workshops

4 Bi-national workshop on institutionalgovernance

Learning & workshops

4 Hydro-diplomacy training courses (SGCANand Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Peru)

Advice and support on institutions, learning & workshops

4 Initiation of the Andean leadership networkconducting two workshops

Leadership and learning, workshops

2013

4 Legitimisation of ALT actorsAdvice and support on institutions, learning & workshops, joint action

4 Leadership/Champion’s Network active and planning activities

Leadership and learning, workshops

4 Benefit sharing workshop attended bymultiple-level stakeholders from Bolivia and Peru

Learning & workshops

4 Elaboration of a baseline study of the hydro-biological resources of Lake Titicaca Basin

Technical coordination, learning

SOLUTIONS AND INTERVENTION RESULTS


LESSONS LEARNED GOING FORWARD

The experience of BRIDGE in the Andes hasemphasised the need for a multi-faceted, multi-

level approach to water diplomacy and transboundaryriver basin management. Previous existence of a bi-national authority has been both a benefit and a chal-lenge given the historical political context betweenBolivia and Peru. BRIDGE is designed to work aroundthese limitations by pursuing multiple agreements atvarious levels. In the Andes, interventions have beenfound to be successfully implemented through threeprimary dimensions: substantive (knowledge, infor-mation, data), procedural (process, institutional,legal), and relational (personal, institutional, political).In each of these dimensions, BRIDGE has intervenedand engaged at multiple scales – a crucial element ofimplementing water diplomacy.

Interventions through the substantive dimension havehad the most effect on transboundary cooperation inLake Titicaca. The combination of maps, informationsystems, monitoring, and agreements on technicaldetails of the lake has multiplied the number of meet-ings and agreements produced since BRIDGEbecame active in the region. This has prompted reflec-tion of how transboundary cooperation works and howit links to other activities. A significant learning from

work in Lake Titicaca is that basins that have well-established institutions can draw upon previous tech-nical work as a framework for dialogue andcoordination, for example basin maps and hydrologicdata. These sometimes small steps can build uponexisting knowledge and significantly move cooperationforward. However, data, information, and knowledgealone does not produce the necessary recipe for waterdiplomacy. To be successful, an enabling environmentmust exist in order to secure commitments amongwater users and institutions. This requires that whenagreements are achieved, relevant institutions be pres-ent with the capacity to manage them, for exampledevelopment of a Water Information System betweenPeru and Bolivia.

Progress in the procedural dimension has been pri-marily at the national and regional scales. A series ofbreakthroughs at the state level has opened oppor-tunities for greater technical coordination and coop-eration over joint monitoring between Bolivia and Peru.This has been complemented by a dedicated effortto support the highly political and procedural effort toreform the Titicaca Basin Authority, increasing stake-holder participation in the institution.

Overlooking Lake Titicaca towards Juliaca, Peru.


Lessons Learned Going Forward

basin such as Lake Titicaca. Institutional reforms there-fore need to be supported and driven by the needs ofwater users at all levels.

Another significant finding is that a regional network ofwater Champions can complement conventional waterdiplomacy by providing new avenues through whichsharing of experiences can occur. Formal avenues arestill relevant forms of influence however, informal chan-nels have the advantage of more flexibility and facefewer political and institutional barriers to effectchange.

Taking these findings into 2014, BRIDGE will continueto support the Champion’s Network through trainingand support for action and change. Support willextend to the water governance work of Bolivia, Peruand the Titicaca Basin Authority to build a more legiti-mate and effective transboundary river basin institutionresponsible to a broad base of water users. At theregional level, BRIDGE will facilitate the implementationof a Water Information System to demonstrate jointaction among Andean Community members as partof a shared IWRM Strategy. BRIDGE will also expandits strategy by sharing lessons and results with othertransboundary basins of the Andes region.

Transboundary basins have unique legal and inter-governmental challenges to cooperation. To imple-ment effective water diplomacy, specific capacitiessuch as legal, technical, and procedural support forstates are needed to move things forward. This has tobe complemented with a multi-layered approach util-ising workshops, political dialogue, technical and legalsupport and learning and knowledge through step-wise actions. It is only then that substantial changecan be implemented.

The relational dimension has focused on relationsbetween Bolivia and Peru, the Titicaca Basin Authority,national water agencies, and provincial and municipalstakeholders at local levels. Previously the Titicaca BasinAuthority functioned at diplomatic levels with limitedeffective participation from state, provincial or local waterusers. Consequently over the last 17 years it lost somelegitimacy as a transboundary river basin organisationparticularly in eyes of municipalities and local waterusers. One of the primary learnings from BRIDGE wasthat river basin organisations build legitimacy throughwide-ranging participation of stakeholders – an IWRMprinciple. Even with great political backing and hightechnical capacity, an institution requires legitimacy tobe effective and resilient, particularly in a transboundary

“Sharing information and knowledge is astepping stone to greater coordinationand wider cooperation in Lake Titicaca.”

About IUCN

IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature, helps the world find pragmaticsolutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges.

IUCN’s work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective andequitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to globalchallenges in climate, food and development. IUCN supports scientific research,manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.

IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organization, with morethan 1,200 government and NGO members and almost 11,000 volunteer experts insome 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by over 1,000 staff in 45 offices andhundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world.

www.iucn.org

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE

WORLD HEADQUARTERSRue Mauverney 281196 Gland, [email protected] +4122 999 0000Fax +41 22 999 0002www.iucn.org/bridgewww.waterandnature.org

lake titicaca basin: peru and bolivia · bridge case study –lake titicaca basin: peru and bolivia...

Documents