Rumiyacu–Mishquiyacu–Almendra Water Fund — EPS Moyobamba's Pioneering Tariff-Based Watershed PES (Peru)

Since 2008, EPS Moyobamba (the municipal water utility of Moyobamba, in Peru's San Martín region) has charged a S/1.00 (~US$0.27) monthly surcharge per active water connection to fund conservation of the Rumiyacu, Mishquiyacu and Almendra microwatersheds that supply the city's drinking water. Deforestation and unsustainable land use on these steep slopes had raised sediment and turbidity reaching the intake works, increasing treatment costs and reducing dry-season flow. The scheme predates Peru's national MERESE law (Ley 30215, 2014) by six years and is cited by SUNASS and MINAM as the country's founding case.

Rather than expand treatment infrastructure, EPS Moyobamba — with SUNASS regulatory oversight, technical support from CONDESAN, and a multi-stakeholder Merese Moyobamba steering committee — channels tariff revenue into reforestation, erosion control, capacity-building and hydrological monitoring on private and communal land in the watershed.

Under a phase documented by CONDESAN in 2021, S/3.5 million was invested to reforest 400 hectares with native species, benefiting an estimated 42,733-49,556 residents depending on the official communication cited. Engineers project the restoration will increase dry-season flow by about 24 litres/second and cut long-term sediment loads reaching the intake by 22,000-25,000 tonnes over 20 years. The model has since been replicated by 49 other water utilities (EPS) across Peru under the national MERESE framework; EMAPA San Martín alone executed over S/770,000 through the mechanism by mid-2023.

The sediment-reduction and flow figures are engineering projections rather than independently verified long-term monitoring results, and beneficiary/investment figures vary across official communications, reflecting the programme's incremental, multi-donor structure rather than a single audited baseline.