Engineer Juan Carlos Giménez is President of the Water Subchapter of the Chapter “Large Metropolises and their Infrastructure (LMI)” of the World Congress and Exhibition ENGINEERING 2010 –ARGENTINA: “Technology, Innovation and Production for Sustainable Development”. He is a specialist in the planning of electrical and water systems. He was co-author in the topic of water resources of the Latin American region for the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report, UNEP-WMO Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, honored with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

He is currently member of the Advisory Council in Climate Change of the Environmental Agency of the Government of the city of Buenos Aires. He is also an ad honorem Professor of the subject “Water Resources Planning” of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Buenos Aires and Full Professor of the subjects “Analysis of Water Systems” and “Water Supply and Demand” in the Master of Water Management at CETA (Centre of Water Transdisciplinary Studies) of the Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, both of the University of Buenos Aires.  

In this Newsletter, he gives his opinion about water and sanitation in urban areas in issues related to the active contribution of engineering to the development of the global society.

According to your opinion, which are the origin and the process of the problems of water and sanitation in urban areas, their elements and the social actors involved, from the point of view of engineering and technology?

In Argentina, in parallel with what happened in other Latin American countries, in the last decades there has been a substantial increase of the urban population. This trend has been stressed as a result of the difficulties regional economies are facing. As a consequence of this socio-economic process, the growth of cities has been disorderly, this effect being more noticeable in the periphery areas with higher density of population. The lack of an overall planning of the urban expansion and of soil use caused both an anarchic growth with the subsequent lack of safe water services and wastewater sanitation and an increase of impervious areas and the consequent interference and/ or change in surface runoff.
Moreover, the infrastructure of potable water systems grows disproportionally to that of wastewater and this leads to an increase in the groundwater table. Due to several reasons, this suggests that sanitation and water services should grow at the same pace.
As regards rainwater drainage (drainage pipes, gutters and streets), “urbanization” causes not only a significant increase in rainwater volumes but also a marked increase in peaks in flood hydrographs, which has effects on drainage infrastructure costs.
The solution of these complex water and sanitation problems requires the joint and coordinated commitment of the municipal, provincial and national administrations to guarantee the compliance of applicable infrastructure rules as well as the effective participation of social sectors to create a new water culture. This means modern ways of thinking and putting into practice water and sanitation policies so that the new social actors and environmental organizations have a true possibility of participating and analyzing the decisions to be made. In all these respects, engineering can contribute to the sustainable development of water, sanitation, and urban drainage infrastructure.         

What is necessary to educate and train human resources for the interpretation of and the participation in feasible processes of technologically based urban development? How will this affect social welfare?

A crucial element to improve information and education levels in the sustainable management of sanitation and water resources and environmental quality of the population in urban areas is the optimization of people’s participation and communication.
In this sense, it is essential that the National Government, the provinces and municipalities promote a complete information and social mobilization program about the sustainable use and protection of water resources of the country, explicitly describing individual responsibilities and those of the State in its several administration and government levels. This program should be based on the wide participation of national, provincial and local sectors, public and private entities, the scientific community, users’ groups, and the civil society in general. To describe in detail implementation approaches and methodologies, experiences such as those of Brazil, Mexico and other European countries which have taken on this challenge in recent years could be used.      

How do you think ENGINEERING 2010 will contribute to improve urban issues related to water and sanitation in urban areas?  

An important international event such as ENGINEERING 2010 - ARGENTINA is essential to improve Global Water Initiatives (GWIs) which are considered to be the optimum to provide institutional frameworks, organizations and special events that focus on global water-resources management.

ENGINEERING 2010 - ARGENTINA will be a relevant contribution to strengthen international water networks and to achieve sustainability in global water-resources management which is critical in this 21st Century.