Urban water management in Bogotá, Bogotá

Urban water management in Bogotá, a metropolitan area of more than 8 million inhabitants, faces three main challenges: improving the quality of the highly polluted Bogotá River, controlling floods and revitalizing riparian areas along the river. The main public entities in charge of water resources management in Bogotá are the district government, the regional environmental agency Corporación Autónoma Regional of the department of Cundinamarca, and the water and sanitation utility Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá. A court mandated that these entities cooperate to improve the river's quality, a ruling that translated into an agreement signed in 2007 that defined the responsibilities of each entity and forced them to approach the water management challenges in an integrated way. The agreement prepared the ground for the expansion of the Salitre wastewater treatment plant, construction of a new one, widening and protecting of riparian zones, restoring the natural meander of the river, and hydraulically connecting the river to its flood plains. These measures are supported by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. ()