Dialogue on Water and Climate

Coping with Climate Variability in a Transboundary Basin

in Central America

Report of the Field Investigation

Abstract

During the second half of 2002, the Ministries of Environment of the governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua initiated project activities intended to identify and describe the government, community and household coping strategies used to face the negative aspects of climate variability in the San Juan River Basin (SJRB). As one of the 18 similar IS/WDC¹ global projects underway at the basin, national, and regional levels, PROCUENCA-SAN JUAN was chosen as a regional (Central America) case because of the project’s experience in using dialogues to formulate and implement a strategic action program for this transboundary basin.

Work on the project was performed with the technical assistance of the OAS’ Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment and the financial support of the Government of the Netherlands through the IS/DWC. As part of this project, a field investigation looked at different sectors and institutions in 16 of the 37 municipalities of the Nicaraguan sector of the basin and 7 of the cantons of the Costa Rican sector.

The principal objective of the investigation was to identify community and institutional coping responses to threats posed to water resources by climate variability in the SJRB. The sectors of primary interest were potable water, health, municipal governments, rural communities, agriculture and livestock producers, irrigation, and industry. Gender and migration were considered as crosscutting issues. Conclusions and recommendations were made to the IS/DWC as well as to the Strategic Action Program of PROCUENCA-SAN JUAN, and to the governments of Costa Rica and Nicaragua regarding the policy adjustments needed to best confront the water resource problems created by climate variability.

1 - International Secretariat of the Dialogue on Water and Climate