Enhancing Urban Water Resilience: Case Studies from South America

This video is also available in Spanish.

This webinar took place on 27 April 2021. It is the sixth in a series of webinars on climate-resilient water management approaches. More information at https://agwaguide.org/training/webinar-series-climate-resilient-water-management-approaches/.

The sixth edition of the webinar series “Climate Resilient Water Management Approaches: Adaptation in an Age of Uncertainty” focuses on urban flooding in South America as the main topic for discussion. Hydro-climatic extremes such as heavy rainfall and floods are responsible for catastrophic impacts worldwide. Densely populated cities in coastal areas and river margins, increased impermeabilization of the land surface, and sea level rise tend to aggravate these problems.

José Luis Gutierrez Ossio, from Integrated rural development at river basin level project (PROCUENCA), a program implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Bolivia commissioned by German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), will present a study case from Bolivia, where the consequences of two climate change related hazards — water scarcity and water excess — are evaluated for their impacts on human communities, agricultural activities, and livestock production. Using a climate risk assessment methodology developed by GIZ, José and their team identified the most vulnerable communities and proposed a set of adaptation measurements in order to increase climate resilience to a number of meteorological events.

For the second presentation, speakers Luis Dominguez and Monica Menendez, from Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL) and Municipality of Guayaquil, Ecuador, respectively, will discuss about applying the Climate Risk Informed Decision Analysis (CRIDA) approach to build flood resilience in the delta city of Guayaquil. Through participatory processes and systems modeling, project partners identified and analyzed nature-based solutions to address flooding in the area before ultimately developing a strategy for implementation. The study was a joint effort between local and Dutch institutions, supported by city authorities.

*The webinar took place in English and Spanish. Live Spanish and English interpretation was be available during the event. The video above is English only. A Spanish version is available at https://youtu.be/aNS3dWPisAg.