National Water Plan in Uruguay: The Implementation Challenges of Participatory Processes with Stakeholders and the General Public

Abstract

During 2016, a discussion process took part on the first National Water Plan (PNA, by its initials in Spanish) carried out in Uruguay. It derived on a preliminary version for review and discussion in the formal spaces of water governance, as well as through a deliberative mechanism for the general public (adaptation of the consensus conferences) called Citizen Deliberation on Water or Deci Agua, organized by a team from the Universidad de la República, in coordination with the Dirección Nacional de Aguas. We describe and analyze the Deci Agua process, including its contributions to the PNA (approved by decree in 2017). Also, we discuss the progress in the implementation of the PNA between 2017 and 2020 and its main challenges. From the citizen panel's report of Deci Agua, the PNA incorporated the ethical perspective in water management. The implementation of the PNA may be hampered by poor coordination between government institutions (environmental and agricultural), by structural changes originated with the new government, and by its limited acceptance from sectors of civil society.