Pilcomayo River Basin Institutional Structure

Abstract

Water resources of the Pilcomayo River Basin are shared between three countries: Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia. It is a transboundary basin. It has several and significant peculiarities from the physical viewpoints (hydrological, sedimentological and geomorphological), as well as from the point of view of its people, cultures, ethnicity, economy, productive activities, and political and institutional organizations. The governments of the three countries decided in 1995 to begin their harmonic water management in order to resolve existing problems and to anticipate future challenges that, inevitably, would lead to the development of their peoples with a watershed management vision. This paper presents an overview of the main achievements and institutional structure of the Tri-national Commission for the development of the Pilcomayo River basin.