Marco Troya Fuertes, Secretary of Water (SENAGUA)

To safeguard water resources in the country, SENAGUA monitors productive activities to ensure compliance with the protective measures.

• Interview

What plans are being carried out to improve access to water in the country?

Water is a strategic, important, and influential resource in the development of economic and social life of a country. SENAGUA efficiently guarantees compliance with the rights enshrined in the constitution regarding access, and fair, equitable and rational use of water. Our mission is to reach all sectors of the country by delivering water through authorizations of use. We must reach all users who require it in a personalized way, such as water for human consumption, irrigation for food sovereignty, ecological flows, and productive activities. Through the mission Water and Sanitation for All, we reach the sectors that lack access to drinking water and basic sanitation. We provide potable water and sanitary sewer systems together with the decentralized autonomous governments. The recognition of social water organizations that help manage and operate the country’s rural systems is a fundamental axis in water planning. Our mission as SENAGUA is to recognize, strengthen, and work hand in hand with social organizations in order to provide a quality service. The guarantee of the rights of nature through the establishment and declarations of water protection areas is a guarantee of a public policy of preserving and caring for a resource that is precious to all.

What changes have been made to expedite the granting of mining permits and, at the same time, ensure responsible use?

Most of the raw materials used today come from the subsoil and are extremely important for Ecuador’s future. In order to safeguard the water resource, and as established by the Organic Law on Water Resources, Usage, and Efficiency and the Mining Law, the State Portfolio issues an administrative act prior to the execution of mining activities, in which it is verified whether or not there will be any eventual damage to bodies of surface or underground water and if the project is in compliance with the order of priority over the right to access water. This state portfolio has developed a technical standard that establishes the minimum requirements and guidelines for the issuance of the previous administrative act, which considers the principles of simplification, standardization, and optimization of processes, without neglecting the technical requirement regarding the preservation of the hydric resource.

Digital transformation for the issuance of authorizations for use of water

What requirements are presented to mining companies in terms of water management for the mining activity?

Previously, the mining sector did not have a regulation oriented to the protection of the environment and water resources, promoting an activity that did not contemplate the rights of nature. At present, there are regulations that allow preventing, controlling, and monitoring of all productive activities of the country, its order of priority, and care of the environment. We have the Organic Law of Water Resources and its regulation, the Organic Environmental Code, protocols to monitor and control water quality. For the issuance of the previous administrative act, requirements focused on type of mining and mining phase are requested. The holders of the mining rights must submit a hydrological and climatological study of the area where mining activity will take place; a technical report on the existing hydraulic infrastructure; planned and built mining infrastructure located or will be located in the area where the mining activity will take place; a technical report of the initial water quality conditions of the water bodies of the area where the mining activities will take place; a water quality monitoring program; and a report on the restoration and progressive remediation activities to be applied during the closure of mining activities, if required. Once the previous administrative act is issued, SENAGUA will carry out the respective control and monitoring. Mining rights holders must submit reports on compliance with the monitoring program and protection measures in order to safeguard the water resource. The frequency of presentation will depend on the mining phase. It will be biannual for exploitation and benefit and annual for the initial and advanced exploration phases. ✖

Water and Sanitation for All program

Marco Troya Fuertes SECRETARY OF WATER (SENAGUA)