Water resources management in Costa Rica
[2] Agriculture is the largest water user demanding around 53% of total supplies while the sector contributes 6.5% to the Costa Rica GDP.
Hydroelectric power generation makes up a significant portion of electricity usage in Costa Rica and much of this comes from the Arenal dam.
Total water usage is very high in comparison to other Central American countries, but when measured against available freshwater sources, Costa Rica uses only 5% of its available supply.
There exists ample water but the threat of widespread contamination to the aquifers is legitimate as untreated wastewater, stormwater, and industrial effluents infiltrate subterranean supplies.
Modernization projects are underway led by the Environmental Ministry in Costa Rica with the assistance of multi-lateral development banks where the aim is to address this infrastructure challenge as well as to help mend a fragmented system of water management institutions.
[4] Another considerable challenge in Costa Rica is the lack of a monitoring and maintenance for potable water and the problem has precipitated a higher incidence of water-borne illnesses.
In response, the Health Ministry created a system of vigilant monitoring of the quality of water, illnesses, population migration, environmental sanitation, vulnerability of the aquifers, lakes, and rivers.
[3] Dating back two hundred years, there have been disputes over the management and usage of the San Juan River forming the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
The San Juan River has long been viewed, for both countries, as offering the promise for a canal route across Central America.
This was the case when the Panama Canal site was chosen rather than the San Juan River as the ultimate ship navigation route across the Americas.
The Nicaraguan government announced in August 2009 that it will begin construction at the end of September 2009 to reroute the San Juan River, which runs along the country's border with Costa Rica.
Costa Rica responded, issuing a statement that said a ruling by an international court "forcefully denies Nicaragua's wish to dredge a new route on the San Juan River."
These aquifers are called the Upper and Lower Colima and are separated by a layer that acts as a semi-permeable aquitard, which allows the descending and ascending vertical transfer of water.
The depth of the water table level varies, depending on the surface topographical irregularities; but, generally it ranges between 50 and 100 m. The direction of the underground flow is from north-east to south-west in both aquifers.
[4] Surface water is represented by approximately 13 major rivers, with many adjoining tributaries that range in length from 50 to 160 km (31 to 99 mi).
The Government of Costa Rica understands tourism to be the primary driver of the national economy, and more attention has been paid to improve the potable water systems throughout the country.
PARD encompasses an area of 2,686.4 hectares (6,638 acres) and benefits 2023 families who mainly cultivate vegetables, root crops, tubers, decorative plants and prickly pears.
Of this total demand, the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) has granted 1240 concessions for exploiting surface and groundwaters for agricultural use; however, less than 97% of the water in Costa Rica utilized for irrigation comes from surfacewater.
The Lake Arenal Hydroelectric Power Plant has approximately 1,570 BCM of useful capacity and produces roughly 70% [citation needed] of Costa Rica's electricity.
This dam generates 640 GWh/yr and is located on the south-east shore of Lake Arenal in the Guanacaste Province, northwest Costa Rica.
[9] (Source for all above and a complete list of Costa Rica Water laws in Spanish for viewing and download: ARESEP (Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos)) Water administration and management is the responsibility of the Environmental Ministry in Costa Rica and although the administration is defined in practice it has not functioned as well.
Due to the lack of clear laws and strong institutions, management and administration is carried out by sectors and also falls on the water users.
The tariff is set based on short term cash flow needs rather than on real economic costs of service provision.
As a contractual agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Costa Rica initiated a tariff adjustment by net area irrigable.
