Green infrastructure projects for the Yuna river basin

Dominican Republic

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is supporting the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI) in its objective of strengthening the capacities of the Government of the Dominican Republic in the resilient management of water for irrigation and the planning of investments in this sector, in the prioritized basins and irrigation areas. In this line, the IDB has deployed Technical Cooperation (TC) resources to meet the request of the competent authorities of the Dominican Government and the needs identified by INDRHI.

As part of the TC, the Program for the Improvement of Irrigation and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Yuna River Basin (DR-L1161) has been implemented, CSD/RND within which IDOM carries out the consultancy for the formulation of a Portfolio of green infrastructure projects in the Yuna River Basin in the Dominican Republic, which began last July and will continue until February 2014.

The Yuna River is the second most important river in the country, and its watershed is also the second largest in extension. This basin, which covers an area of 5498 km², presents serious pollution problems due to the abusive use of agrochemicals, in addition to erosion itself.

IDOM’s work consists of identifying the green infrastructure and nature-based solutions to be implemented in the prioritized sub-basins, the mouth and the coastal zone associated with the Yuna River for the short, medium and long term, between 2024 and 2028. The green infrastructure and the SbN should be planned with the objective of contributing to the sustainable management of water resources in the basin and allowing for greater resilience to the effects of climate change.

To achieve this, it is necessary to consider strengthening the ecosystem services of the basin, increasing the water retention capacity of soils and reducing erosion in the upper and middle basin, restoring the mangrove and dredge ecosystem, as well as other ecosystems associated with the mouth of the Yuna. The green infrastructure projects that appear in the portfolio will serve as the basis for the design of financing operations to be implemented starting in 2024.

Finally, in addition to the first meeting at the end of July for the gathering of relevant information and mapping of strategic stakeholders, the consultants plan to hold other virtual workshops for the validation and socialization of results once the work is completed.

The project is based on the methodology used in the short- and medium-term portfolio of green infrastructure and Nature-based Solutions (NBS) projects for Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá (EAAB). Read more here and find out why.

Natural Capital & Bioeconomy