Distritos de riego. Alternativa sustentable para el desarrollo económico del Alto Humea-Meta (Colombia)

Resumen

The right to water is part of public policy in Colombia. The management of the resource, through irrigation districts, is favored by Law 41 of 1993. This law encourages the participation of the beneficiaries through the transfer for its administration (IDB, 1995). Thus, since 1976 these were developed in different parts of the national geography as those of the Atlantic Coast, Valle del Cauca, Boyacá and some smaller distributed throughout the Colombian territory.

On the other hand, it is the function of the State to guarantee the construction of infrastructure according to the demand. Thus the development of these projects is debated between main

and secondary works of the State, while the intraprediales are aided by the private sector, users of irrigation districts. In the present article these are examined as a sustainable alternative aimed at the economic development of Alto Humea, analyzing its viability and sustainability as a general objective. For this purpose, through a literature review,  different  theories on environmental valuation in relation to water were analyzed, seeking an evaluation of the situation when taking into account the different categories in relation to shadow prices and the reasons for the price of the DNP account. Finally, it was found that the socio-economic indicators of the municipalities are worrisome, hindering the optimal development of the quality of life   as follows: 50% of the population has UBN, precariousness in public services, illiteracy and displacement due to armed conflict.