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Geography
Information System (GIS) as a tool for water
management
December,
2005
A
recent workshop was held at the Rimac River Users Committee
(JUR) in order to show how to incorporate GIS in the
planning and the management of irrigation water in
the eastern zone of Lima. The workshop was
carried out by GIS specialist from the Urban Harvest
team, who were able to present the benefits and
potentials of GIS to the JUR in relation to various
aspects relating to water management. The
workshop was carried out with the intention of demonstrating
to members of the JUR how to use GIS and how it can
be applied to water management, environmental
impacts, and land tenure issues. This dissemination
of vital information that can be very useful to
strengthening the JUR's capacity to provide a more
efficient irrigation service to urban agriculturalist
in the area and as a tool to improve water quality
and perverse agricultural lands. Furthermore, GIS is
a tool that would enable the JUR to locate potential
risk prone areas in canals, cullies and even in the
Rimac River itself. The detailed maps
developed from GIS allowed members of the JUR to
visualize the water management system, identify
different land uses and how much fertile
agricultural lands are reducing as a result of
urbanization.
Gustavo
Daviran, president of the JUR, expressed that using
and understanding GIS exemplifies the concerns of
water access and quality and land tenure issues. He
further expressed that GIS can be a very useful tool
when negotiating with municipal authorities in
regards to conserving agricultural lands and how it
can and should be applied to city
planning.
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