Cali's Payment for Environmental Services Programme (DAGMA) — Watershed Source Protection, Colombia

One of Colombia's earliest municipal payment-for-environmental-services pilots ran from 2009 to 2014 in the Cali river basin's Pichindé and Felidia sub-watersheds — an area with roughly 417 springs and 12 community aqueducts serving over 8,000 rural residents. The pilot, evaluated in a 2021 peer-reviewed study, was funded mainly by the Fondo Patrimonio Natural and the Dutch government (62% of a US$697,555 budget) and covered 120 hectares under conservation and restoration agreements.

The Alcaldía de Cali's environmental agency, Dagma (Departamento Administrativo de Gestión del Medio Ambiente), later revived and scaled up the model. By June 2026 it had signed 238 Payment for Environmental Services (PSA) agreements with rural families, representing an investment of roughly COP 3,500 million (~US$875,000), covering conservation of more than 2,500 hectares and the protection of approximately 1,000 water sources over a seven-month contract period.

The scheme supports water sources feeding both Cali's municipal aqueduct network and rural community water systems; Dagma director Lina Botía described it as strengthening 'economic incentives for the families that protect strategic areas.'

As with many municipally-funded PES schemes, continuity depends on annual city budget allocations, and no independent, rigorous outcome evaluation (measured water yield or quality change) of the 2026 expansion was found — the available evidence documents financial and institutional commitment and hectare coverage rather than verified hydrological impact.

Read the full analysis: https://www.cali.gov.co/boletines/publicaciones/193022/cali-fortalece-la-conservacion-con-la-firma-de-238-acuerdos-de-pago-por-servicios-ambientales/