The Water of San Luis. Strategic Planning. San Luis Case

Key words: Water policy, strategic planning, provincial reservoirs.

Under the premise that water resources are the environment, productivity and development basis of the province, a Master Water Plan was implemented. The Master Water Plan positions San Luis as the only Argentinean province which has a tool that allows applying a series of programs for conducting studies, land planning and strategic design in the construction of dams, which have resulted in continuous improvement in the life quality of San Luis people.

The water storage system is constituted by 20 dams, adding up to 470 hm3 of water reserves for 490,000 inhabitants. The local water policy allows for building strategies to meet the current challenges linked to population growth and food supply in a world that requires new production matrices.

San Luis water reservoir system, fed exclusively by summer rainwater, has doubled its storage volume, increasing more than 50% in recent years, thus ensuring the supply for human, industrial and agricultural use for the entire province and for decades. Over 4,700 km of aqueducts and canals have been built to transport this water from the central mountains throughout the province. In this natural environment, the creation of an artificial reservoir has necessarily responded to a strict planning under a State policy which is based on the Treaty of Peace between Progress and Environment.

The commitment of democratizing the access of water to the entire community in San Luis is fulfilled through the Master Water Plan, which covers a complex water system integrated by a score of dams, a groundwater collection system and public wells, in addition to great investment in technology and infrastructure.