In January, a Dutch team from Dutch Water Authorities visited the Blue Deal partnership in Peru. 3 main themes were the core of this first work visit of the year: climate adaptation, wastewater management, and data for water availability.
Climate adaptation
The Blue Deal Peru team from the 2 Dutch water authorities Wetterskip Fryslân and Noorderzijlvest visited the Casitas Bocapán creek in Tumbes and the proposed areas for a reforestation project. This is an initiative of the Regional government and the technical team of the Tumbes Water Council-ANA. We are looking forward to share expertise on the resilience and water components of the project.
In Piura, the mayor of Lagunas, one of the districts in Ayabaca province and initiator of the feasibility study for carbon credits project, and other involved stakeholders, renewed their commitments to work together this year under the support from the Chira-Piura Water Council. This feasibility study is financed by the NWB Fund.
Wastewater management
In both regions, Piura and Tumbes, we visited different wastewater treatment plants to see how wastewater techniques can be improved and to assess options for water reuse. In Piura, during the visit to the San Martin wastewater treatment plant and under the coordination of the Chira-Piura water council, we held a workshop to gather information from operators and managers about relevant themes for a tailor-made training to be executed this year.
Data for water availability
The Blue Deal Peru team from the 2 Dutch water authorities Hunze en Aa’s and Rivierenland, with the support of Deltares and our Young Experts from Piura and Tumbes, gave a training on the hydrological model W-flow. The training’s objective was to support local capacity generating data for water availability, and enhance interaction amongst organisations responsible for water management in the regions. The training was organised by the technical teams of the water councils of Tumbes and Chira-Piura. A primary exercise during the training involved modeling the Zarumilla River. Triggered by the training, the participants committed themselves to work together, sharing information in follow-up sessions and improving the model for their areas.
National and regional positioning of the partnership
Finally, the national and regional positioning of our partnership and the work with our local partners were also core activities of this first work visit. Our coordination team discussed in Lima the follow-up actions of our visit from last year with the Vice Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation and the General Manager of the National Water Authority (ANA).
We also visited the regional governors of Tumbes and Piura, explained our current projects and the potential themes for cooperation in both regions. With universities’ representatives from both regions, we discussed the next call for scholarships for young professionals. We finished this work visit presenting our project and exploring synergies for cooperation with the professionals of the ANA’s Direction of Water Resources Planning and Development.