Global InformationList of responsibilities in the water supply and sanitation sector in Latin America and the Caribbean information
This is a list of the different responsibilities in the water supply and sanitation sector in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. It includes the responsible institutions which set sector policies, agencies of economic regulation and service providers in urban and rural areas. The list can only give a simplified description in many cases due to overlapping responsibilities and/or unclear definitions. For more information on water supply and sanitation in each country, please click the respective country link.
| Country | Sector policy | Economic regulation | Service provision (urban areas) |
Service provision (rural areas) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | At the provincial level | 14 out of 23 provinces have regulatory bodies | Public, cooperative and private entities of various forms | |
| Bolivia | Ministry of Water | Superintendencia de Saneamiento Básico (SISAB) | Municipalities, EPSAs (mixed or public companies and cooperatives) | Water boards or water committees |
| Brazil | Ministry of Cities | Municipalities; Regulatory agencies in 14 states | Municipalities, state water and sewerage companies | |
| Chile | Department of Sanitation Programs of the Ministry of Public Works | Superintendencia de Servicios Sanitarios (SISS) | Private owned or private operated companies at the regional level | Cooperatives and water boards |
| Colombia | Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development | Potable Water and Basic Sanitation Regulation Commission (CRA), Superintendency of Public Services | Municipalities, direct or through public or private utilities | Communal water boards |
| Costa Rica | Ministry of Health | Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) | Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), municipalities, Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia (ESPH S.A.), Administrative Committees of Rural Water Systems (CAARs) and Administrative Associations of Rural Water and Sanitation Systems (ASADAS), private organizations that operate water systems | |
| Cuba | Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraulicos (INRH) and ministries | Provinces and municipalities through their respective water and sanitation directorates, PSP in Habana | 3,220 rural water systems | |
| Dominican Republic | Secretariado Técnico de la Presidencia | None | Regional companies in the largest cities, the Instituto Nacional de Aguas Potables y Alcantarillados (INAPA) | Community-based water boards |
| Ecuador | Subsecretaría de Agua Potable, Saneamiento y Residuos Sólidos (SPASyRS) under the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing and others (overlapping responsibilities) | None, ECAPAG in Guayaquil | Municipalities (directly or through utilities), PSP in Guayaquil | More than 5,000 Potable Water Boards |
| El Salvador | Administración Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ANDA) | Administración Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ANDA) (40%), municipalities, decentralized service providers, housing developers | More than 800 community-based organizations, including water boards and cooperative development associations | |
| Guatemala | No clear leadership; Various institutions, including the Ministry of Health, the Instituto de Fomento Municipal (INFOM), the Ministry of Environment and the Planning Secretariat in the President's Office | None | Municipalities, public, communal and private entities | Communities through water committees |
| Guyana | Ministry of Housing and Water | Public Utilities Commission (PUC) | Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) (public) | |
| Haiti | De facto: Ad hoc interventions by the Minister of Public Works, Transport and Communications; no long-term policy | CAMEP (Centrale Autonome Métropolitaine d’Eau Potable) in Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, and SNEP (Service National d’Eau Potable), in secondary cities | Water committees (Comités d’Aprovisionnement en Eau Potable - CAEPs) | |
| Honduras | Consejo Nacional de Agua Potable y Saneamiento (CONASA) | Ente Regulador de los Servicios de Agua Potable y Saneamieto (ERSAPS), local regulatory agencies | Municipalities, The Servicio Autónomo Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (SANAA), PSP in San Pedro Sula | Water boards (Juntas Administradoras de Agua – JAA) |
| Jamaica | Ministry of Water and Housing (MWH) | Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) | Public National Water Commission (NWC) and three smaller private service providers | NWC and Parish Councils |
| Mexico | Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA), State Water Commissions at the regional level | None | Municipalities and states directly or through cooperatives, public or private utilities | Water boards (Juntas) |
| Nicaragua | Comisión Nacional de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado Sanitario (CONAPAS) | Instituto Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (INAA) | Empresa Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ENACAL), municipalities, departmental water company in Rio Blanco | Potable water committees |
| Panama | Ministry of Health | Autoridad Nacional de Servicios Públicos (ANSP) | Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantaeillados Nacional (IDAAN), municipality of Boquete | Juntas Administrativas de Acueductos Rurales (JAARs), Health Committees |
| Paraguay | Ministry of Public Works | Ente Regulador de Servicios Sanitarios (ERSSAN) | Empresa de Servicios Sanitarios de Paraguay (ESSAP), Juntas de Saneamiento, Aguateros (informal service providers in small towns) | |
| Peru | Vice Ministry of Construction and Sanitation (VMCS); National Sanitation Board (DNS) | Superintendencia Nacional de Servicios de Saneamiento (SUNASS) | Servicio de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Lima (SEDAPAL), 53 Empresas Prestadoras de Servicios Municipales (EPS), municipalities | Administrative water committees |
| Uruguay | Dirección Nacional de Aguas y Saneamiento (DINASA) within the Ministry of Housing, Land Management and Environment | Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Energía y Agua (URSEA) | Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE) | |
| Venezuela | Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources | De facto none | Compañía Anónima Hidrológica de Venezuela (HIDROVEN), five state water companies, the Corporación Venezolana de Guayana (CVG), municipalities, urban cooperatives | Community-based organizations |