Centers of pollution and sensitive areas

All the environmental problems occur in different spaces in the basin and to different degrees. So far the problems have been analyzed pointing out the key areas in each case from the various environmental angles. This section presents those centers of pollution or sensitive areas identified as priority areas:

• Urban centers

• Lake Nicaragua

• Caño Negro

• San Juan River and its Coastal Zone

• Indio Maíz River Biological Reserve

• Tortuguero Canals

Urban centers

The urban centers in the SJRB are the location of many of the environmental problems and their sources. It can be asserted that most of these population centers have problems with industrial and household solid waste and wastewater. The towns of Granada, Masaya, Rivas, Nandaime, Juigalpa, San Jorge, El Castillo, and San Carlos in Nicaragua and Ciudad Quesada, Guápiles, and Sarapiquí in Costa Rica are sources of pollution. Even though the levels are not yet seriously high, they are beginning to be problematic. Regular features are solid waste that is not properly treated, inadequate sewerage systems, and industries dumping their effluents in streams, rivers, lakes, and lagoons. The basin’s water resources are seriously affected and their quality could drastically decline in the future if no action is taken to reduce the pollution from these urban centers.

Lake Nicaragua

Clearly, Lake Nicaragua is a sensitive and very important area of the basin. It is the largest fresh water reservoir in Central America and has a high potential for navigation, fishing, and tourism. Though pollution has not yet reached critical levels, this is a latent danger considering the population growth and agricultural and industrial activities occurring in the basin. It is very important to know the status of the different ecological systems in this lake, particularly since currently there are more unknown than known variables. The outflow of polluted water from Lake Managua to Lake Nicaragua is an element that has not yet been evaluated but which definitely represents a risk factor for the water quality in the latter region.

Caño Negro

The Caño Negro wetlands are internationally recognized for their ability to shelter both migratory and local species of great ecological value and constitute a RAMSAR site. However, they are facing serious threats from sedimentation, the invasion of exotic species, and farming in adjacent areas. The protection of these ecosystems is very important in terms of the waters, and the transborder impact is high. One additional benefit of their conservation in this case is the protection of the habitat for migratory species.

San Juan River and its Coastal Zone

The San Juan River, together with Lake Nicaragua, is the central axis of the basin and generates huge economic benefits for both countries. It is not only a source of fishing resources, but is also an excellent communication route. It is currently suffering from overexploitation of many of its commercial species, including sharks, from sedimentation of the riverbed—which has reduced navigation in some areas—and from pollution by fertilizers and pesticides. The increase in tourism-related activities will place some stress on certain areas of this subsystem because of the pollution potential (solid waste, sewage, and spills of fuel and lubricants, in particular), in addition to visitor saturation at sites of marked interest in terms of the scenery, history, or biodiversity.

Indio Maíz River Biological Reserve

This reserve constitutes the remnants of a tropical rain forest and is almost untouched. Despite its ecological and environmental importance and its hydrological function in the basin, the area is threatened by the poor infrastructure and lack of technical and economic resources to ensure control and protection of its ecosystems. Its location makes it particularly vulnerable to encroaching farmland and effective protection is difficult because of its large size.

Tortuguero Canals

These canals are very important for tourism and communications in the northern sector of the Costa Rican Atlantic coast and suffer from sedimentation of the riverbeds and exploitation and pollution of the water.

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