Colombia Freshwater Resource Rights Report (English)
This English report analyzes Colombia’s legal approach to freshwater resource rights and community-based management of freshwater resources. When measured against best practices and global indicators, the report concludes that Colombia maintains a legal framework broadly supportive of community-based management of freshwater resources and associated rights.
Subject Tags
- Fisheries
- Indigenous Peoples
- Ecosystem management
Summary
This report analyzes Colombia’s legal approach to freshwater resource rights and community-based management of freshwater resources. For purposes of this study, freshwater resources, or FWR, are defined as “any body of water that is fresh (not salty), together with its associated species and ecosystem resources, including aquatic plants and animals such as fish.” FWR rights can be framed as either “use rights” or “control rights.” The primary FWR use rights analyzed in this study are access rights (i.e., “the right to enter freshwater bodies or pieces of land from which FWR can be accessed”) and withdrawal rights (i.e., “the right to remove water, fish, or other FWR”). The primary FWR control rights analyzed in this study are exclusion rights (i.e., “the right to prevent other from using the FWR” in question), alienation or transfer rights (i.e., “the right to redistribute, sell, rent, gift, or bequeath rights over FWR”), and management rights (i.e., “the right to make decisions about FWR, such as flow regulation, aquaculture, or fishery management”).
When measured against best practices and global indicators, the report concludes that Colombia maintains a legal framework broadly supportive of community-based management of freshwater resources and associated rights. Key features of Colombian law supporting this conclusion include but are not limited to (1) treating water as a human right, (2) recognizing the rights of nature through emerging case-law, (3) a clear prioritization scheme governing water uses and concessions, (4) opportunities for community participation in management and decision-making, (5) recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights to ancestral territories, (6) a newly created regime incentivizing conservation through payment for environmental services, and (7) mechanisms for legal recourse in the event of abuses or violations of rights related to FWR.
Citation
Fromherz, N. & Lyman, E. (2021). Colombia Freshwater Resources Rights Report.
Keywords: freshwater; local communities; Indigenous Peoples; rights; Colombia