According to the Auditor General's Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish) the "institutionalization" of the body of water inter-district Laguna La Picasa "is pending in each of the provinces" that it crosses. Its aim is to agree and endorse joint action for the use and management of resources, as well as, operate, control, and maintain the construction system.

The analyzed watershed is located in the territory of the provinces of Córdoba, Santa Fe, and Buenos Aires. The report of the Federal Watchdog approved this year, is a follow-up on the 2007 points of the hydraulic projects in the basin (established to enable the evacuation of excess water into the Rio Salado) under the Federal Control Flood Plan.

In 2007, during the original audit, the AGN said they had not set "scope standards and operation of the jurisdictional Basin Commission." In the new review of the audit, it was revealed that the provinces involved in the path of the lake, together with the Secretariat of Water Resources, and the Undersecretary of Provincial Development of the Ministry of the Interior "had signed the proposed establishment of a new interjurisdictional water system agency, La Picasa- El Chañar”.

At the closing date of the audit, "the Agency was not established" and its draft statute "did not include the participation of municipalities in the planning and management of resources, nor did it include scientific institutions, universities, and public bodies on competition matter (INA, INTA, INTI), or the Secretariat of Environment and Sustainable Development of the Nation ".

On the other hand, the AGN indicated that they still "had not formed the committee to monitor construction and completion of works", but said that, given the absence of the vigilance committee, it was the "Interjurisdictional Basin Commission the one who developed this task." The auditors assured that, “the creation of the Water Authority (mentioned in the previous point) would remedy this situation."

It also said that "the constructions were executed audited and monitored without the provinces having had in view the resolutions approving the environmental impact studies."

Continuing with the environmental problem, in its first report, the watchdog pointed out that the Secretariat of Water Resources had no responsibility to oversee the implementation of Environmental Management Plans (PGA, for its acronym in Spanish), so it "constituted a Task Job Monitoring Environmental Assessment and Work in the field of Project Management and National Water Works". As the works are analyzed in the context of another direction of the Secretariat (the National Directorate of Planning and Coordination Federal), the AGN recommended they "formalize environmental monitoring equipment for all the leftovers of the Secretariat of Water Resources" because, otherwise the "construction jobs are not under the purview of the Monitoring Group" mentioned above.

Federal Diagnosis of the Water

Beyond the specific aspects observed by the audit with regard to the basin of the lagoon La Picasa, the report emphasizes the "absence of a prior comprehensive assessment of the entire national territory, to determine the critical areas, prioritize, and plan implementation of waterworks risk criteria.”

In the new opinion the watchdog points out that "the Federal Water Resources Plan" is preliminary and needs to develop water policy that addresses all phases of the hydrological cycle and maps showing the areas of water risk. "

To the specific question of flood control, auditors say there still isn’t "a standard that addresses the rationale, objectives, goals, and methodology" for the implementation of a federal plan to regulate the issue. 

The report acknowledges that "a federal plan is discussed in the framework of the National Water Resources Plan" but it does not specify any goals or deadlines. Also remaining are "specified objectives, deadlines, and obligations" of the Federal Flood Control Plan.