Improving water security in Peru’s cities

Context

Water resources in Peru are very unevenly distributed. Most people live in fast-growing cities located in areas with low rainfall. Water demand and water pollution are increasing sharply, while climate change and more frequent extreme weather events are also exacerbating water risks.

In order to improve adaptability, it is necessary to leverage and disseminate good practices that have already been established at some water utilities in Peru.

Objective

The Peruvian water sector aligns its policy, expertise, planning and investments with the requirements for establishing water security.

Approach

The project builds on the successes of its predecessor:

1. For urban water management, the project promotes a focus on service quality and long-term water security - and not only, as is currently the case, on connection access. To this end, the project is working together with the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland to developing long-term scenarios that depict future water demand and the impacts of climate change.

2. The project assists water utilities that have good climate adaptation practices for disseminating and scaling up with other water utilities nationwide, such as early warning systems. To achieve this, national exchange platforms are to be set up.

3. Support is also provided for the development of business models with the private sector to expand proven practices, for example the reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture.

4. Another project focus is on the technical vocational education and training of technicians. To this end, it is advising public institutions on dual vocational training and initiating a training programme in cooperation with the Association of Swiss Wastewater and Water Protection Professionals (VSA).

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs contributes financially to the project.

Last update: February 2024