Latin America; in English (pdf) - Transboundary Freshwater Dispute ...

Haitian people who live in the hills may walk 4-6 hours to carry products to/from market. Background: irrigation canal of the Artibonite River.
Photo credit: Sharon Nichols, Rochester Community & Technical College.
one country possesses the upper basin and the
lower part belongs to another, one might expect the
latter country to have a greater role in the management
of the basin, since it also has more at risk
concerning deterioration. In the same way, if one of
the countries depends heavily on the river basin in
question (such as El Salvador on the Lempa), one
can expect a higher level of involvement by that
country in the management of the basin.
Some countries with international basins
show a low interdependency in comparison to
their neighbors. This is the case for Panama:
Panama shares the small basin of the Jurado
River with Colombia. With Costa Rica, Panama
shares two larger basins, the Changuinola and
Sixaola, which belong in great part to one of the
two countries. Likewise, Guatemala and Honduras,
with the Motagua and Chamalecon basins,
demonstrate very little bilateral participation. On
the other hand, countries such as Guatemala and
Belize, Honduras and El Salvador, and Mexico
and Guatemala, are highly interdependent.
2.1.2 West Indies
Except for Hispaniola Island, the individual
islands of the West Indies have no political
divisions due to their insular condition.
Hispaniola Island, the second largest island in
the West Indies at 76,430 km 2 , is shared by two
nations: Haiti (36.3%) and the Dominican Republic
(63.7%). The 360-km border separates the basins
of El Lago Herniquillo and the Pedernales,
Dajabón-Massacre, and Artibonite rivers. The
Artibonite River is the longest on the island.
2.2 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS,
POPULATION DYNAMICS, AND
HYDRIC AVAILABILITY
During the final decades of the last century,
natural areas of Central America and Hispaniola
Island have been marked by many social and
economic transformations, provoking big
changes in the environment. These changes
included the conversion of additional lands to
agriculture and other changes in land use, the
expansion of farming activities, and increased
urban development.
Many river basins are currently suffering the
effects of these changes (Table 2.4). Most of the
rivers in Central America and the West Indies
have high levels of contamination. In many
cases, the problems have not been addressed
Chapter 2. Hydropolitical Vulnerability in Central America and the West Indies — 21