Recommendations

Recommendations are made concerning the priority areas and sectors to be looked at in the bi-national workshop and in the field investigation, with reference to the following levels of possible coping strategies: international, national, municipality/canton, community and household.

Workshop and Field Investigation

• The relationships between extreme meteorological events, water supply, and health should be further investigated as part of the IS/DWC sponsored study of coping strategies in the SJRB.
• Within the SJRB, the following administrative units should be further evaluated:
  • In Costa Rica: La Cruz, Upala, Los Chiles, and Sarapiquí as high priority. Pococí because of its potential for flooding, and Guatuzo and San Carlos because of their poverty relative to the remainder of the country and their relative large populations.
  • The municipalities of San Carlos, Morrito, San Miguelito, Acoyapa, Juigalpa, San Lorenzo, Teustepe and Tipitapa should be priority areas for further analysis in the Lake Nicaragua sector of the basin.
  • The municipalities of Cardenas, Rivas, San Jorge, Potosí, Nandaime, Granada, San Juan de Oriente, and Catarina should be priority areas for further analysis in the southeast portion of Nicaragua.
• The priority sectors that should be further evaluated in terms of the effects of climate variability on water supply, storage, distribution, and conservation are agriculture, livestock management, and industrial production. Secondary emphasis should be placed on tourism and energy.
• Further investigation will require interviews with staff of municipal governments, inhabitants of both rural and urban communities, and the owners and workers in the major production and industrial sectors (sugar cane, dairy, slaughter houses, and citrus processing).
• Further investigation will require interviews with professionals and volunteers who work in the municipal and national health offices, hospitals and health centers.
• Because of the orientation of much of the interest and work in PROCUENCA-SAN JUAN, gender issues as they relate to water and climate should be evaluated and discussed.
• The workshop and field investigation should include regional level arrangements to positively treat gender and migration issues especially where these concern emergency planning and even more so for drought and flooding.

International

• The workshop and field investigation should look into ongoing and future possibilities for increasing research to improve understanding of the reoccurrence of ENSO and other extreme phenomena in Central America.
• The workshop and field investigation should evaluate ongoing and future research to improve crops and livestock genetics to withstand drought and flooding in the tropics.
• The workshop and field investigation should evaluate bi-national agreements concerning emergency preparedness and responseas well as monitoring of climate threats.

National

• The workshop and field investigation should include the efforts and the national levels to prepare for and respond to emergencies (in particular drought and flooding).
• The workshop and field investigation should include national level legislation and policy concerning preparedness, response, and monitoring of drought, flooding and hurricanes.
• The workshop and field investigation should include national government and non-governmental research efforts to monitor, prepare for, and respond to climate threats in general and particularly in drought, flooding, and hurricanes.
• The workshop and field investigation should include regional level development plans and planning efforts by national authorities that may or may not include emergency preparedness, response, and monitoring as part of the plan.

Canton/Municipality

• The workshop and field investigation should include the efforts and the canton and municipal levels to prepare for and respond to emergencies (particularly in hurricanes, drought and flooding).
• The workshop and field investigation should include canton and municipal level legislation and policy concerning preparedness, response, and monitoring of climate threats in general and hurricanes, drought and flooding in particular.
• The workshop and field investigation should include canton and municipal level arrangements to positively treat gender and migration issues especially where these concern emergency planning and most especially for hurricanes, drought and flooding.

Household

• The workshop and field investigation should include cultural, social and economic differences that will translate into coping strategies and methods by and for households to confront the problems brought on by climate variability.
• The workshop and field investigation should include the condition of gender and migration and their specific coping strategies and methods in confronting the problems engendered by hurricanes, flooding and drought.