Adapting to water scarcity in rural Bolivian communities

As a consequence of the reduced amount of water received from the retreating glaciers and to meet the growing fresh water demand of the La Paz metropolitan area, a major water supply project will be implemented under the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). According to the plan, a water intake and a water duct with a length of 35 km will be constructed. The water intake will affect the communities downstream, who will have less water to make their living. The affected 43 communities in two municipalities live mainly from small-scale agriculture and animal husbandry.

The NDF project will help the communities to adapt to the reduced water availability by designing and implementing municipal and community level adaptation action plans with special focus on water management, agricultural production and productivity. The project also serves as a pilot to all high inter-valley communities facing the water shortage as result of melting glaciers.

With NDF funding the affected rural communities are helped to adapt to the reduced water availability in the future as result of the water intake but also as a consequence of the reduced natural water flows because of the climate change. The objective of the NDF project is to support the municipalities and communities in providing adaptation action plans in order to increase the agricultural productivity and living standards in the rural communities - in spite of the limitation in water availability. The project will help the communities by implementing several adaptation measures including water collection, regulation and storage together with conveyance of water for drinking and irrigation. Special attention will be paid to integrated watershed management taking into consideration the long-term impacts of climate change.