Education and Research for Integrated Water Resources Management in Peru

Although Peru is a water rich country, mountain ranges separate the country’s in-land Amazonian water supply from the people and economic activity on the coast. Increasing population growth, climate change and a legacy of unregulated mining activity and water use contribute to a growing urgency for a coordinated national strategy to manage this precious resource.

This project contributes to the integrated management of Peru’s water and mining resources by:

• Raising the level of education in Peru about integrated water resource management (IWRM)
• Building capacity within Peruvian universities, government bodies and community organizations to gather and manage related data
• Producing education and research programs that target national, municipal and community actors with a focus on areas of mining activity including all water users

Certificate in Integrated Water Resources Management 

• In partnership with Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and UBC, CIRDI developed a certificate program in integrated water resources management for inclusion in a new Diploma in Water and Mining at PUCP, which began in March 2017.

 National workshop on Environmental Participatory Monitoring Committees 

• In October 2016, CIRDI worked with Peruvian partners to bring together 200 participants from industry, government and civil society to support citizen participation in environmental monitoring in Peru’s mining regions. Sixty-eight of the participants were men and women representing 22 committees from seven different regions in Peru. The project documented and provided public access to open‐source resources on participatory environmental monitoring groups, including a baseline that captures the presence and scope of existing monitoring groups.

Gender, Water and Mining 

• Over 180 participants from government, industry, academia, NGOs and civil society gathered in Lima, Peru on February 16 & 17, 2017 to discuss gender issues in mining with an emphasis on the use of water resources. The conference aimed to raise awareness of the challenges and impacts of mining on the lives of women, especially Indigenous and rural women – and to identify ways to increase local capacity, welfare and economic benefits for women, with a particular focus on the role of women in mining-related water resource management. Learn more.

Cerro Verde Case Study 

• This case study of the Cerro Verde mine’s development of a wastewater treatment plant in Arequipa, Peru illustrates how a collaboration approach can create an innovative solution to a business need, a community issue and an environmental challenge – and ultimately how mining can contribute to sustainable development. Read the Case Study.