This region, though small, suffers a disproportionate number of extreme climate events such as hurricanes, floods and droughts. These have a considerable impact on water infrastructure and economic development.
According to the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, this situation is bound to worsen. Central America is home to 40 million people of whom 70% live on the Pacific coast where only 30% of the water resources are available.
The main problem in the region is weak governance. Overlapping responsibilities among regulatory, supervisory and implementation entities are at the core of this deficiency. Moreover, water administration is often centralized in capital cities but fragmented across institutions. The need for clear national policies and sound legal frameworks is long overdue.
Central America is also affected by unsustainable use of forests and soils, and pollution from industries and agriculture that degrades water quality and reduces water availability. Drinking water and sanitation coverage is uneven, and rural populations are the most disadvantaged (93% of urban and 60% of rural populations have access to drinking water, 78% of urban and 58% of rural populations have access to basic sanitation).
Water is a potential unifying issue since 23 of the 120 main river basins are shared between countries. The region has made significant progress in defining a regional political framework, through a harmonization process carried out during 2009 resulting in the elaboration of important instruments such as the Central American IWRM Strategy and Plan.
GWP Central America’s main endeavour is to improve water security by promoting harmonization and implementation of regional policy instruments. The application of these instruments requires sound legal frameworks to foster good water governance at national level and efforts will continue to support legislators and other actors in this arena. GWP Central America has established strong alliances with the Central American Integration System (SICA) and other regional actors.
The launch of the Costa Rican IWRM plan, in which GWP Central America played an important role, is an opportunity to boost the development of such planning tools. IWRM national planning is essential to bring together all water-related sectors. The plans will be reinforced by training on water financing to ensure sustainable funding.
Communication catalyzes social processes promoted by GWP. GWP Central America will continue to work with journalists and to strengthen the communicators network.