Workshops for dissemination of the Magdalena River Basin Management Plan

On April 24, one of the workshops organized by IDOM and Cormagdalena for the dissemination of the Master Plan for the Integral Management and Sustainable Use of the Magdalena River Basin (PMMIUS) was held in Neiva. This was the fourth workshop for external stakeholders, in addition to those previously held in Bogotá, Barrancabermeja and Barranquilla (March 14 and April 19 and 21).

The Magdalena River basin covers about 257,000 km², is home to about 70% of Colombia’s population and generates more than 80% of the country’s GDP, making its protection and development a priority for the country. With this objective in mind, the National Government, in cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), conceived the Master Plan and entrusted Cormagdalena with its design and implementation.

Cormagdalena (Corporación Autónoma Regional del Río Grande de la Magdalena) is the entity in charge of restoring and maintaining the navigability of the Magdalena River as a factor contributing to the competitiveness of the country, ensuring its sustainable development and improving the quality of life of the communities along its banks.

Since October 2021, IDOM has been working with Cormagdalena in the development and implementation of the PMMIUS. Based on 5 components (water, social, environmental, social and institutional and governance), the plan aims to understand the basin, establish a support system for the entity to improve synergies between users, plan interventions, minimize contingencies and coordinate the integrated management of the watershed.

In order to achieve all the objectives, collaboration between the two entities and the stakeholders involved in the development of the river basin (from the inhabitants to the companies involved in its exploitation, municipalities and other organizations) is the key to the successful progress of the project.

In other words, it seeks to make the plan something that is understood by all citizens as belonging to them, something that is nourished by the experiences and contributions of the stakeholders, and which therefore engages them to participate in its implementation. Thus, during the presentation of the PMMIUS, the Executive Director of Cormagdalena, Mr. Álvaro José Redondo Castillo, emphasized the importance of “communicating and having people take ownership of the plan, both the instigators and the stakeholders”.

You can read more in Spanish about the details of the project in the following links:

“Socializan en B/quilla Plan Maestro para el manejo integral del Río”. El Heraldo, April 22, 2023.

“Inicia consultoría para la formulación del Plan Maestro de Manejo Integral y Uso Sostenible de la Cuenca del río Magdalena, que apoya el BID”. Ministry of Transportation of Colombia, September 15, 2021.

“Developing the Observatory on the Magdalena River basin“. IDOM, September 22, 2022.