PARTICIPATORY GOVERNANCE PROCESS AT THE PANAMA CANAL WATERSHED

摘要

Panama Canal watershed management is under the responsibility was assigned to the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) in1997 –the year of its foundation; before that time, the Canal was administered by the United States of America’s federalentity called the Panama Canal Commission (known as PCC). ACP is responsible for the administration, maintenance, use,and preservation of the water resources in the Panama Canal watershed; as well as for the approval of strategies, policies,programs and projects that may affect this area, and to coordinate the conservation of its natural resources. In 2000, ACP andthe Panamanian government established an Inter-institutional Commission for the Panama Canal Watershed (called CICH byits acronym in Spanish). Its mission is to coordinate efforts and resources to promote sustainable development in the PCW,with participation of stakeholders.With the creation of a new watershed organization, lots of challenges had to be faced.First, Panama had to take full administration of the canal and with it, take necessary measures to ensure the long termsustainability of the business. Second, as a part of the canal business sustainability, and beyond the Canal operational aspects,Panama had to advance the integrated water resources management (IWRM) and development of this region–the PanamaCanal runs exclusively on fresh water stored in the watershed.CICH members decided to start by two parallel processes: on one end, by establishing a watershed-wide stakeholdersparticipation structure, designing sub-watershed assessments, and implementing short and long-term plans and actions forIWRM; and on the other, by conducting social-economic, environmental, hydrological, and cultural studies, and byconducting thorough assessments of the watershed legal and policy framework. This paper is centered on the first process. Ittells about how the ACP and CICH have advanced in the establishment of a participatory governance scheme to ensure thewatershed sustainability.