In order to formulate a SAP for the sustainable development of the SJRB by bringing the people of Costa Rica and Nicaragua together in a participatory and coordinated fashion, several assumptions with certain inherent risks have been made. They are described below.

Since there is no bilateral legal and institutional framework for the well-ordered management of the SJRB or for common administrative actions to be taken on its behalf, the governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua have each studied this request for financing in accordance with their internal procedures and will each submit it to UNEP/GEF for consideration. This is the same procedure they followed previously in applying for and receiving PDF Block B funds.

The governments have decided to use this project as an instrument of cooperation and mutual understanding for the benefit of their natural ecosystems, the environment and sustainable development of both countries, of Central America, and of the international community as a whole. The just completed phase is testimony to this desire. Thus, while all issues related to jurisdictional concerns remain to be resolved outside of the context of this project, a satisfactory resolution is presupposed.

Further, it is assumed that work already done in the SJRB has led to the correct identification of problems. In this regard, the TDA is and will continue to be of great significance, and will have to be continually updated.

It has also been assumed that the governments, local organizations, and universities want to cooperate and coordinate activities in the SJRB. Since these proposals were formulated with the widespread participation of all interested groups, including both national governments, it would seem that this assumption is grounded in reality. Nevertheless, a constant effort by the Technical Units will be necessary to assure coordination on the part of the institutions and organizations of both countries.

Another major assumption is that financing and other resources are available. If the previous assumptions regarding the attitude of the stakeholders, including both governments, are valid, the assumptions regarding the real availability of financing and other resources become all the more well founded.

To a large extent, the success of the SJRB project will depend on the timetable, or more precisely, on the performance of each component at the right time. To assure that this is the case, each country will name a technical coordinator to work directly under the executing agency. Moreover, the SAP will be given great flexibility, as occurred in the preparatory stage.

The national governments have pledged their support to actions proposed to be implemented with the incremental financial assistance of the GEF by allocating to this project important state and national financial resources. Further, it is believed that local level initiatives can form a model upon which country level initiatives can be built over time hence the adoption of a "bottom-up" approach in most of the project activities. It is anticipated that these "bottom-up" approach with the active participation of key stakeholders will enhance the likelyhood of SAP findings inclusion into national policies. The risk however that these local level initiatives are not adopted at the country level is the principal risk facing this project and has been identified as such hereabove. Finally, the SJRB project is being used as a pilot project for the formulation and implementation of a Strategic Action Plan for the Central American Isthmus. This regional SAP seeks the implementation of regional policies for the integrated management of water resources in the Central American Isthmus. It will therefore, endorse SJRB SAP findings at a regional level, increasing further the probability of incorporating them into national policies.

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