Natural Infrastructure for Water Security in Peru (NIWS)
The Natural Infrastructure for Water Security (NIWS) project enables the Government of Peru to improve its management of their natural resources to increase water security and provide a sustainable economic future for its citizens, while alo reducing migration and the risk of internal conflicts. The project is co-funded by USAID and the Government of Canada. It aims to scale up investments in natural infrastructure in Peru to safeguard water supplies and increase climate resilience. The NIWS will demonstrate how well-managed natural infrastructure projects in Peru deliver water security benefits and are sustainable, cost-effective, and scalable. The project addresses specific challenges to implementing natural infrastructure in Peru:
- A lack of a robust project pipeline;
- A lack of capacity and guidance for designing sustainable, gender-inclusive projects; and
- A lack of coordination across sectors;
- Insufficient financial resources in some regions.
Activity Description
Compared to “gray infrastructure,” or human-engineered systems such as dams or water treatment systems, natural infrastructure is a cost-effective way to mitigate water scarcity and climate risk through conservation and sustainable management of landscapes that purify and store water, reduce storm water runoff and minimize flood damage.
- These practices include wetland and forest conservation, improved grazing and farming practices, and restoration of pre-Incan infiltration canals.
- The project will demonstrate how modest investments can increase water management and help catalyze Peruvian public- and private-sector investment in these cost-effective practices.
Expected Outcomes
- Ensuring policy synergy across ministries and departments by building a common vision for natural infrastructure in Peru and incorporating this into key policies like Peru’s National Gender and Climate Change Action Plan.
- Generating water and socioeconomic information including differentiated impacts on men and women, required for project decision-making and support.
- Developing guidelines and tools to design plans, projects, and actions guaranteeing water, social, and economic benefits.
- Teaching the design, evaluation, monitoring, and management of natural infrastructure projects of natural infrastructure projects to water utilities, watershed councils, regional governments, and local communities.
- Designing, testing, and implementing new financial models to mobilize funds.
- Building integrated natural-gray project portfolios in priority watersheds to increase investment.
- Documenting and disseminating the benefits of natural infrastructure through flagship State of Natural Infrastructure in Peru publications, public and private financial analyses, and more.
Related Content
