The natural environments of all Central American countries are relatively small but extremely diverse. This remarkably heterogeneous natural endowment is largely a result of wide climatic variation. Central America is also extremely prone to natural disasters, with a number of incidents among the highest in the world. The region is characterized by very steep topography, where deforestation causes soil erosion, thereby contributing to large amounts of sediment to most of the fresh water bodies. In addition, most rural areas and many urban areas lack treatment facilities for domestic waste, posing major health problems for downstream populations who use streams and rivers for washing, bathing, and drinking.
Over the past few decades, the Central American region has experienced some progress in various aspects of water management, including access to water resources and coverage of related services. However, there is still much work to be done, so it is highly likely that the additional stresses caused by changes in the region's meteorological and hydrological regimes will increase vulnerability in the region.
Taking into account the topics for the World Water Forum, we would like to highlight five issues as central to the region, in terms of policy, they are: Adapting to climate change, mitigating disaster, ensuring water and sanitation for all, basin management and transboundary water cooperation, and institutional arrangement for efficient and effective water management.
Adapating to climate change and mitigating disasters.
Central America is one of the most vulnerable regions in the world. Severe water related disasters such as floods, droughts, hurricanes etc, have increased in the last years. The devastating consequences of atmospheric phenomenona (such as hurricane Mitch and El Niño and La Niña) have revealed severe environmental deterioration, as evidenced by the region's significantly reduced capacity to drain off extraordinary volumes of water. Climate variability and change is already affecting water resources and their management. Adaptation to the effects of climate change and increasing climate variability must therefore be given the highest priority in order to secure limited water resources and to reduce the impacts of water-related disasters.
Policy priority:
There is a need to reduce the vulnerability of populations to waterrelated disasters, thus it is important to develop adaptation and mitigation policies that can act as complementary response measures that should be combined to reduce the risks provoked by climate change.
Ensuring water and sanitation for all.
Access to drinking water supplies in Central America has improved in recent years. However, formidable challenges remain, as approximately 35 million people live in the region, of which only 42% of the rural population and 87% of the urban have water access. These figures show the dramatic disparities between urban and rural areas. In the case of sanitation services, the situation is even worse. Out of the 35 million people in the region almost half of the population is exposed to polluted water, without access to improved sanitation facilities, increasing the number of people with water related diseases. Thus, this is a critical issue if the region wants to meet the MDG target. After all, it is well known that safe water supplies immediately improve the health, and consequently the quality of life.
Policy priority:
The priority should be to increase targeted investments in water access and sanitation, developing more and better infrastructure.
Basin Management and Transboundary Water Cooperation
Despite its relatively modest land area, Central America contains 23 international river basins. The surface area of these international river basins covers approximately 36.9% of the Central American territory, an area larger than any single country in the region. Historically, shared rivers were governed through treaties at the international level, or interagency compacts at local or state levels. Today, river basin organizations constitute a fast-growing alternative.
Policy priority:
It is important to focus efforts on building institutions that manage transboundary river basins, as they are almost inexistent in the region. Furthermore, such institutions are also important because of the positive influence that they have on transboundary cooperation and conflict prevention.
Institutional arrangement for efficient and effective water management
Policy and political reform is an essential condition for sustainable and effective change. A real regulatory regime should be implemented that clearly defines the roles, rights, and responsibilities of actors in all Central American countries. The problem is that, with the exception of Nicaragua, no country in Central America has a water law that meets the new institutional requirements that the region must address. Therefore, implementing good water governance is a critical issue. Governance is about effectively implementing socially acceptable allocation and regulation and is thus, intensely political. The concept of governance, of course, encompasses laws, regulations, and institutions, but it also relates to government policies and actions.
Policy priority:
To promote more effective governance, reforms must include measures such as creating accountability, building national capacity for better water policies, and enforcement mechanisms.
Source: Politica de la Subregión Centroamericana Hacia el V Foro Mundial del Agua Estambul 2009
http://www.sica.int/prevda/
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