Colombia: National Policy for Integrated Water Resource Management (2010 - 2022)

This policy sets the long-term framework for ensuring the sustainability of Colombia's water resources through efficient, participatory management linked to land-use planning and ecosystem conservation. Over a twelve-year horizon, it establishes six specific objectives — supply, demand, quality, risk, institutional strengthening, and governance — guiding environmental authorities, territorial entities, and productive sectors that use water, among which agriculture accounts for the largest share of national water consumption. The policy frames water as a driver of economic development and social wellbeing, linked to food security, and is implemented through the National Water Plan and economic instruments such as payments for environmental services.