Water Law creates six entities for control of the resource

According to the Water Resources Law, at least six organisms would have the total control of the water. These are the National Water Secretariat (Senagua for its Spanish acronym), which serves as Unique Water Authority; the Agency for Regulation and Control of Water (ARCA for its Spanish acronym); Autonomous Decentralized Governments (GARD for its Spanish acronym); Basin Councils; Intercultural and Plurinational Water Council; and institutions of the Executive function linked to water management (Ministries of Environment and Health).

These adds to the existing Advisory Councils of Water and the Public Water Company, created by executive order two months ago.

Rocío Cachimuel, President of the Indigenous and Peasant Federation of Imbabura (FICL for its Spanish acronym) explains that the Sole Authority will establish parameters to define the volume of rainwater that can be stored. “The state wants to have total control of the water without respecting the processes that we have had as boards and communities”, she said.

The Vice president of the Committee for Food Sovereignty of the National Assembly, Mauricio Proaño (AP), says that such regulation is necessary because the rivers require rainwater in the upper parts of the basin and if someone stores the liquid it does not reach the low for parts for its irrigation.