ROUNDTABLES

CULTIVATING GOOD WATER BY ITAIPU

The 15-year experience of the Cultivating Good Water (CAB) program by Itaipu Binacional and partners was presented at the Water Arena in the Citizen Village.

Winner of the UN-Water Prize in 2015, as the best water management practice, CAB has as its characteristic the involvement of civil society and other actors in the territory in the diagnosis, planning and execution of socioenvironmental actions.

Created in 2003, the program operates in 217 micro-basins in the Paraná Basin 3 (which is composed of 29 municipalities whose rivers are connected to the hydroelectric reservoir). Last December, Itaipu decided to expand the program’s area of action to 54 municipalities in western Paraná, in addition to intensifying actions in the region already served.

Another highlight of the program was its action in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of goals that make up the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda, emphasizing that CAB and other Itaipu Binacional actions are geared towards sustainable development of the territory.

It was pointed out that the company’s water and energy actions also connect with food production and ecosystem protection, with strong community participation, involving environmental educators, indigenous people, recyclers, family farmers, young people, women and community leaders.

The roundtable also included a report of a municipality of the basin that has about 4,000 inhabitants and that in 2008 and 2009 underwent a serious situation of water stress, with the depletion of artesian wells and damage to agricultural activity in the area, having the adopted solution proposed by CAB, which recovered and protected all the springs.

Finally, the conversation round about this successful CAB experience showed how important the university’s role in this type of initiative is by supporting research, extension courses and continuing education for the community.