Katoomba XVIII Videoblog: Making PWS That Are Financially Viable, Environmentally Effective, And People Friendly

Genevieve Bennett

The Miyun Reservoir provides drinking water for more than 20 million people in one of the world’s great metropolises, but its core challenges are common around the world, as participants at the Katoomba XVIII meeting relay in these podcasts and videoblogs.

 

The Miyun Reservoir provides drinking water for more than 20 million people in one of the world’s great metropolises, but its core challenges aren’t much different than those of smaller waterbodies located in Ecuador, Peru, or the United State. We speak with Katoomba XVIII participats from those three countries.

20 May 2013 | BEIJING | People’s Republic of China | After a full day of intense presentations in Beijing and three days of workshops in the Miyun Reservoir, delegates to the 18th Katoomba meeting have developed a series of proposals for promoting the restoration of the watershed from which Beijing draws its water. We’ll be examining these proposals in the coming weeks, but for now here are some thoughts on the universal challenges faced by project developers.

Investments in Water for Poverty Alleviation: The South African Experience
In this podcast, Christo Marais,  Director of Natural Resource Management, Department of Environmental Affairs of South Africa, talks about his country’s widely-heralded “Working for Water” program, which hires the long-term unemployed to carry out environmental restoration work in degraded watersheds.

Listen to Clip
 
Reciprocal Watershed Agreements: Cheap, Easy, and Successful

In this podcast,  Maria Teresa Vargas, Executive Director, Fundacií³n Natura Bolivia talks about how reciprocal agreements between communities to safeguard water resources have delivered environmental benefits and resilient livelihoods – and done it all in record time.  

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Watershed Interventions: What Not to Do

Cy Jones, Senior Fellow with the World Resources
Institute, addresses the audience at Katoomba XVIII on principles for designing effective watershed interventions and shares an example of a less-than-successful program in the USA.

Mark Kieser: What’s Your Watershed ROI?

Mark Kieser (Kieser and Associates) discusses the challenge of designing cost-effective watershed investment projects. He also brings us up to speed on a pilot project he’s working on in Peru’s Rimac Watershed as part of the Katoomba Incubator initiative.

Lucí­a Ruiz and Marta Echavarrí­a: Connecting Watersheds in Peru and China

Lucí­a Ruiz (Ministry of Environment of Peru) and Marta Echavarrí­a (EcoDecisií³n) were surprised to find China facing the same challenges as those faced in Peru (or Ghana, for that matter):

 
 

 

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Genevieve Bennett is a research analyst at Ecosystem Marketplace. She can be reached at [email protected].

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About Katoomba China

This is the ninth in a series of stories offering coverage leading up to and during Katoomba XVIII: Forest, Water and People to take place in Beijing, China, on May 16 and 17. The meeting will gather leading experts, practitioners, policymakers, and investors from China and abroad to advance nature-based solutions to the water crisis for an urbanizing world.

Part One China Uses Market-Like Mechanisms To Promote Reforestation Of Sloping Lands examines China’s innovative eco-compensation program, which represents more than 90% of the worlds investments in watershed services.

Part Two China: The Unappreciated Ecosystem Entrepreneur?, provides a broader overview of China’s innovative responses to its environmental challenges.

Part Three From Kenya To China: The Spread Of Innovative Water Solutions examines the role South-South learning can play at the Katoomba meeting-particularly looking at China, Peru and Ghana.

Part Four Katoomba 18 Brings Water-Energy Nexus To Beijing focuses on how the Katoomba meeting will offer solutions to the global water challenge.

Part Five A Critical Time To Harness Green Infrastructure To Secure Clean Water discusses the importance of investing in natural ecosystems-a focus point of Katoomba China.

Part Six ADB Water Boss Courts Private Buyers For Chinese Water Markets examines the role of the private sector in Chinese eco-compensation.

Part Seven China Aims For Scale, Scope, And Reach In Payments For Ecosystem Services summarizes the first day’s proceedings.

Part Eight Can Katoomba 18 Help The Miyun Reservoir? previews the private segment of Katoomba 18, which aims to develop workable solutions to the threats facing Beijing’s water supply.

Part Nine K-18 Videoblog: Making PWS That Are Financially Viable, Environmentally Effective And People Friendly examines the similar water challenges nations around the world are facing.