The quality of the water entering Quito, and many other cities around the world, is directly dependent on the landscapes through which the water flows. Good land management can promote water filtration, produce more reliable downstream flows, and reduce the amount of sediments and nutrients that can make their way into the rivers, springs and aquifers that feed urban water supplies. The city of Quito and upstream landholders have invested in taking care of their water sources for many years.

Unfortunately, many of our lands around the world are not always managed well, which leads to impaired downstream water quality and flows. Deforestation, poor agricultural practices and other land uses have led to moderate to high degradation in 40 percent of the world’s urban source watersheds. Water quality and quantity challenges have typically been met with the addition of more gray infrastructure—including aqueducts, reservoirs and treatment plants—to move and treat water for human and industrial purposes.

But the path to water security doesn’t have to be lined exclusively in concrete. Improving the health of the lands around our water sources—a strategy called source water protection—can improve water quality, restore reliable water flows and bring added benefits to local ecosystems and communities.