Cuenca Verde Water Fund (Medellín)

Colombia, Latin America & Caribbean

Primary Implementer

CuencaVerde Fondo de agua

Medellín

Latin America & Caribbean

Website

https://www.cuencaverde.org/

Nature-based Solutions

Targeted Habitat Protection

Agricultural best management practices (BMPs)

Riparian Restoration

The Cuenca Verde Water Fund was created in 2013 to protect, maintain, and preserve ecosystem services in the source watersheds servicing the Aburrá Valley and Northern and Eastern Antioquia, which encompasses Medellín and other neighboring cities.
The Water Fund is a collective action mechanism convening public, private, and civil society actors – including communities – to protect and restore Medellín’s source watersheds to achieve water security, community resilience, and biodiversity outcomes. As a governance platform, the Water Fund pools investments from key stakeholders to jointly manage implementation, impact reporting, and adaptive management according to a jointly agreed upon strategic plan.

Challenges

The Aburrá Valley and Northern and Eastern Antioquia is an area rich in natural resources, but unsustainable land use and climate change are threatening the region’s water security, rich cultural heritage, and incredible biodiversity.
Medellín and the metropolitan area of the Aburrá Valley, receive 58 percent of its water from the La Fe reservoir, fed by the Medellín River. However, watershed degradation – caused primarily by agricultural and urban expansion – is spurring water scarcity and quality concerns increasing costs for water providers and putting communities and biodiversity at risk. Additionally, landslides threaten hillside communities built on soft soils and increasing periods of drought are causing both water and energy shortages, as a good portion of electricity comes from hydropower plants within the basin.
To address these challenges, the Water Fund aims to restore 300 ha of riparian areas, protect 6,850 ha of mainly agricultural land & forests, and implement agricultural best management practices on 6,400 ha. The measures would mitigate over 870,000 tons of CO2 emissions over 10 years and benefit approximately 2.7M people in the basin.

Financing

In 2013, Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM), a conglomerate of public companies, with the support of the Mayor, The Nature Conservancy, and private companies, established Cuenca Verde as a non-profit organisation. Driven by a business ‘champion’ (EPM), several companies provided US$200,000 each as seed capital. By 2022, Cuenca Verde had raised US$9 million; EPM remains the primary funder, but contributions from the city government and private companies help top up the funds needed for implementation. Other allies and supporters include Grupo Argos, Coca-Cola, FEMSA, Grupo Nutresa, Grupo SURA, Postobon, CORNARE, Mayor's Office of Medellín, among others. Funding is pooled within Cuenca Verde (a registered non-profit in Colombia) and allocated according to annual budget approved by the board of directors.
The Fund runs active programming, including restoration projects with companies, capacity building, and Public & Private awareness raising - like its community ambassador programme, ‘GuardaCuencas’.
The Water Fund’s strategic plan has several elements aimed at strengthening the financial sustainability of the fund including,

Monitoring and Evaluation (Management monitoring, hydrological, socioeconomic and ecosystem impact assessment, watershed monitoring). Cuenca Verde’s monitoring program focuses on demonstrating nature-based solutions are cost-effective at improving water quality, and solidifying the water fund’s reputation as a reliable implementer at scale. Both aspects are important to show potential funders that the water fund is a sound investment that consistently meets its implementation targets and makes data-driven decisions to improve their operations and impact.
Innovation in Financial Management for Conservation (Design and implementation of economic instruments for conservation.) To scale its operations, this element of Cuenca Verde’s strategic plan explores how to leverage co-benefits like carbon sequestration, community income, and biodiversity conservation to attract new sources of funding. Likewise, the water fund also explores new policies or regulations they can leverage to increase investment in natural infrastructure, including regional and national economic development instruments.
Sale of Services (Environmental compensation, monitoring and control of the use of biosolids and voluntary compensation.) Cuenca Verde also deploys their services to generate financial surpluses that can be used to capitalize their investment account. As most financial contributors have specific objectives that restrict how their funds can be spent, a fully capitalized investment account gives the water fund more capacity to invest autonomously, according to their prioritized portfolio.
Administrative Management and Organizational Health (Quality Management System, Occupational Health and Safety Systems, job satisfaction, partnership development and stakeholder engagement, policy advocacy, performance and psychosocial risks.) The water fund’s administrative and organizational health tract focuses on setting clear, transparent processes and procedures that govern how financial decisions are made, including how funding is raised, managed, and deployed, how contractors and materials are procured, and how Cueca Verde staff engage stakeholders. With clear systems the fund aims to improve the agility and transparency with which decisions are made, thereby improving their reputation as a reliable partner with sound financial management.

Governance

The Cuenca Verde Water Fund is a registered non-governmental organization (an Independent Entity) with its own Director, Board, and core staff. The Director is the legal representative of the Corporation and reports to a Board of Directors. The Water Fund also has a General Assembly whose roles and responsibilities are listed further below.

To ensure the Water Fund reaches its objectives, a Technical Committee comprised of (which organizations?) provides (what types of technical assistance) to support decision-making and adaptive management.

Below is the current governance structure of the Cuenca Verde Water Fund.

First level: General Assembly – Associates
Second level: Board of Directors
Third level: Management with the Technical Committee and Legal Area
Fourth level: Water Resources and Biodiversity Coordination / Restoration Coordination, Ecosystems and good sustainable production practices and administrative support
Fifth level: Operational Team
Sixth Level: Basin Guard, Community, etc.

General Assembly of Associates: The General Assembly of Associates is the highest authority in Cuenca Verde’s governance, and make decisions for the fund with a voice and vote. Since this is the highest governing body of the entity, its regulations are detailed in the Corporation's by-laws, which contain provisions regarding its composition, functions, types of quorum, and call for meetings.

The functions of the Board of Directors are the following:

Together with the Technical Secretary, submit the management report, balance sheet and financial statements to the General Assembly of Members for approval.
Appoint the Technical Secretary and fix his fees; appoint the alternate Technical Secretary.
Approve Cuenca Verde’s participation in other non-profit entities.
To authorize the Technical Secretary to execute acts and enter into agreements and contracts whose amount exceeds one thousand (1,000) legal monthly minimum wages in force.
To advise the Technical Secretary and to elect the President, Vice President and Secretary of the Board of Directors.
Approve the investments and appropriations to be made for best use.
To approve the strategic plan which identifies the programs and projects to be carried out by the Corporation.
To appoint and remove the Statutory Auditor.
Approve the regulations and other contracting systems of the Corporation.
To create, merge and eliminate positions and approve the salary scale.
To ensure compliance with the by-laws and the law.

Technical Secretary or Executive Director: The Technical Secretary or Executive Director will be the chief executive officer and legal representative of the Corporation
The functions and powers of the Technical Secretary are as follows:

To execute the decisions of the General Assembly of Associates and the Board of Directors.
· To propose Cuenca Verde’s vision, mission, strategic challenges and goals to the General Assembly, and develop plans, programs and actions to fulfill these goals.
To enter into all acts and contracts within the scope of the Corporation's purpose.
To attend with voice, but without vote, the sessions of the General Assembly of Associates and the Board of Directors, unless a decision is to be made on their remuneration, in which case, their attendance is prohibited.
With the Board of Directors, present the management report, the general balance sheet and any recommended measures to the General Assembly of Associates.
To prepare the budget projects for each year of activities and submit them to the Board of Directors for approval.
To freely appoint and remove the employees who are not part of the General Assembly of Associates or the Board of Directors.
To ensure that the employees of the Corporation comply with the duties of their office.
To fundraise and take care that the collection or investment of the Corporation's funds are responsibly executed.
To direct the Corporation's relations with stakeholders and key actors, including, but not limited to, rural producers, state agencies, private corporations, Indigenous groups, etc.

Statutory Auditor: Cuenca Verde’s Statutory Auditor is responsible for reporting to the General Assembly of Associates on the operation of the organization and supervises its financial statements. This position may only be held by a natural or juridical person with public accountant(s) with current registration, governed under the guidelines of the Code of Commerce.
The duties of the statutory auditor are:

To ensure responsible use of Cuenca Verde’s assets and resources.
To examine the activities, operations, journal vouchers, balance sheets, inventory, minutes, accounting books, etc., kept by Cuenca Verde and ensure that they are in accordance with the law.
Prepare balance sheets and financial and tax reports.
To ensure strict compliance with the Bylaws, all the obligations corresponding to the Board of Directors and the associates.

Implementation

To implement its 30-year NbS program, the Water Fund breaks down the priority work into a series of strategic plans spanning five years. Each strategic plan articulates locations of the high-priority NbS interventions, and supplementary work to support NbS implementation like capacity building, policy and advocacy, and communications. The Water Fund’s monitoring & evaluation plan and 5-year SMART Objectives are also articulated to support adaptive management throughout the period.

Implementation is funded by the Water Fund and outsourced to contractors and community members. Implementation at CuencaVerde is not a unilateral process, but rather an articulated cycle that combines technical science with social engagement.
It is carried out as follows:

Community Prioritization (Priority Decision): While CuencaVerde uses a scientific prioritization strategy (sediment and nutrient load maps) to identify critical areas where intervention is most effective, the final decision to intervene is made through listening, dialogue, and trust-building with landowners and communities. Priorities are socially validated through the negotiation of voluntary conservation agreements with rural families and landowners. Interventions are not imposed; they are agreed upon with those who inhabit the territory to ensure commitment and sustainability.
Quality Assurance Process: The quality and effectiveness of implementations are ensured through rigorous Socio-Ecosystem Monitoring. This process not only verifies physical execution (such as fences or planting) but also measures the real impact on the territory through:
- Water Monitoring: Measurement of water quality and quantity parameters in drainage networks.
- Biodiversity Monitoring: Tracking indicators of flora (forest growth) and fauna (birds and mammals).
- Social Monitoring: Evaluation of families’ perception of changes in water quantity and quality. In addition, technical supervision is carried out by an internal specialized team (PhDs and MScs in environmental engineering) with support from academic partners to validate results.
Implementation Activities: Field interventions include a range of integrated solutions:
- Sustainable production practices: Installation of drinking troughs, live fences, septic tanks, and agroecological gardens.
- Payment for Environmental Services (PES): Economic incentives for families to conserve forests and water sources.
- Conservation agreements: Voluntary pacts to protect specific areas within private properties.
- Restoration: Both active (direct planting of native trees and enrichment) and passive (isolating areas for natural regeneration).
- Monitoring: Continuous tracking of water quality and biodiversity.
- Basic Sanitation: Solutions for wastewater management in rural areas.

Actions & Impacts

By 2030, Cuenca Verde aims to strengthen water governance in the region and set up a sustainable financial instrument to protect ecosystems, help communities adapt to climate change, sequester carbon, and improve water quality. Within the last ten years, Cuenca Verde achieved conservation and restoration actions across 6,500 hectares of land and facilitated over 500 biodiversity multi-stakeholder protection agreements.
The water fund aims to position Cuenca Verde as a leading collective action vehicle investing in NbS for water security by:

Developing science-driven NbS portfolios to reduce pollution and sedimentation by improving agricultural practices that also generate community benefits.
Implementing a leading Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning program that generates publicly available information to improve transparency and adaptive management.
Developing strong relationships with decision-makers responsible for the region’s development to leverage economic instruments that increase investment in NbS.
Collaborating with stakeholders to amplify ongoing efforts in the basin.
Generating behavior change acknowledging the value of ecosystems services, especially water filtration and regulation, and their role in socioeconomic development.
Designing and implementing a governance strategy to strengthen the Basin Councils for the Grande-Chico and Aburrá rivers.
Capturing lessons learned to help other practitioners develop their own NbS programs

Continue your learning

Cuenca Verde (Medellin) Business Case

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Sunset image — © Ashraful Islam/TNC Photo Contest 2021