ICIWaRM Holds Shared Vision Planning Training Course for Dominican Republic Water Professionals

On October 13-15, ICIWaRM engineers led a virtual training course on shared vision planning for about thirty water professionals from the Dominican Republic. The objective of the course was to help develop and prepare a planning team for collaborative development of a decision model for integrated water resources management of the Guayubín sub-basin in the northeastern part of the country. The course was part of a USAID-funded project, “Development of a Decision-Support Tool for the Sustainable Management of Water Resources in the Guayubín Subbasin, Yaque del Norte River Basin, Northwestern Dominican Republic”.

Participants in the course came from many of the key entities that will be involved in watershed planning or management for the Guayubín. These included:

  • The Presidential Commission for the Land Use Planning and Management of the Yaque del Norte River Basin (CRYN);
  • Government agencies such as the National Water Resources Institute (INDRHI) and its UNESCO center CEHICA, and National Institute for Potable Water and Sanitation (INAPA);
  • NGOs such as the Fundacion REDDOM (Rural Economic Development Dominicana) and Plan Sierra;
  • Irrigation Boards (Horacio Vasquez, Gral. Fernando Valerio, Ms. Bogaert, Canal UFE);
  • The Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM); and
  • The private sector company Consultores & Asesores Profesionales-CAP

USAID also participated in the course.

The course consisted of an introduction to the concepts of SVP; constructing the team, identifying problems and opportunities; develop objectives and indicators; developing a decision support model and a baseline; formulating alternatives; evaluating the alternatives; selecting, validating and approving alternatives; working with decision-makers; and incorporating climate change. Further work with the agencies, stakeholders and interest groups who participated in the training course is anticipated in the next phase of the project.