From 5 to 9 March 2018, staff people of the HERMANA project presented the first version of the Water Management Information Center (WMIC) for the Cauca Valley Basin at the CVC headquarters in Cali, Colombia. This information center aims to be the cornerstone for supporting the decision-making process at the technical and institutional levels in those tasks related with the integrated management of water resources, and the management of extreme hydrometeorological risks (droughts, floods).

During the one-week mission, technical and participatory workshops were organized to reinforce the technical capabilities of the local staff in relation to using data and information effectively during the decision making process under different critical scenarios of dam operational management, high risks of floods, water scarcity, and pollution of aquifers. FutureWater led a specific workshop on “Conjunctive use of surface and ground water, putting special emphasis on the integration of data from the WMIC information with simulation and optimization tools.”

The first (beta) version of the WMIC, which integrates the data from FEWS-Colombia and infoSequia in the HydroNET platform, was presented to technicians and head staff of different departments of CVC, who showed their satisfaction and interest in continuing to improve its content and functionality.

Beta version of the Water Management Information Centre of the Cauca Valley Basin. From left to right: Martijn Visser and Sheila Ball (Deltares) and Sergio Contreras (FutureWater).