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Water is central to food security, poverty reduction, economic growth, energy production, and human health. Due to climate change, catastrophic events, such as droughts and floods will increase, impacting lives, livelihoods, land values, and investment incentives. This briefing note focusses on programmes for Climate Resilience, and on integrated drought management in particular. Briefing notes are two-page summaries on selected topics. They are prepared by GWP’s Global Secretariat and its partners.

Montevideo is a region with the highest population density in Uruguay; with just over 1,3 mil. inhabitants (INE, 2011) and has the one of the smallest surface areas (530 km2). Mildly undulated plains and reasonable water resources characterize its geography. There is a wide coastal strip by the River Plate with arches of beaches of great recreational and tourist value; Santa Lucía river in the west that supplies the region with drinking water and three urban watersheds similar to Pantanoso, Miguelete and Carrasco streams. From an economic point of view, it is the main industrial and commercial activities concentration in the country and has the highest rates of human development and per capita GDP. The Pantanoso watershed in Montevideo was identified as the most vulnerable to threats of intense rains and floods and the area has the highest number of settlements on its banks. Strong winds and intense rains bring high water levels or floods in some urban watersheds and sporadically affect the local population. Both the local population and governmental authorities have never had specific training in disaster risk management for floods. Therefore, they prepared the necessary skills to be able to handle disasters of the nature. The Spanish version.

Due to the growing build-up area and changing land use in the Veluwe nature conservation area, the old water management infrastructure no longer coped. Action was thus taken and the traditional technical solution was replaced by a new integrated approach, which combines nature and landscape conservancy with modern water management. This case highlights the importance of utilising inhabitants’ knowledge when drafting new projects. 

Climate change is expected to severely affect water resources in the low-lying part of the Netherlands. It was decided to take an integrated approach and a process was set up in which all parties claiming space in the area were invited to discuss the water issues. The key insight from this case is the additional water needs can be integrated in the spatial planning through an open planning process.