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

Rural latrine, Honduras. Photo credit: Michael Campana.
Almost half of the land area of El Salvador
is located in the lower basins of three international
rivers (Campos and Lucke 2003): the Lempa and
Paz Rivers, which flow into the Pacific Ocean,
and the Goascorán River, which flows into the
Fonseca Gulf. The basins represent 34.56% of
the annual flow in the country (FAO 2002c).
El Salvador is highly dependent on the Lempa
River, particularly for hydropower generation;
the Lempa is used to generate 41% of the
country’s annual energy supply. Furthermore, as
noted above, the Lempa aquifer is the primary
underground water source in El Salvador, and it
is being heavily exploited.
In Nicaragua, it is estimated that the annual
6.9 km 3 of water flow to three international rivers:
San Juan, Coco, and Negro Rivers. The upper
basin of the San Juan River is heavily used, as 57%
of the population is concentrated in the area. Lake
Managua (or Lake Xolotlán) receives 57 million
cubic meters of non-treated sewage waters and
153,650 tons of trash per year (FAO 2002).
Costa Rica provides 29.5 km 3 of water
annually to international basins: an estimated
0.5 km 3 to the Sixaola River, 5.8 km 3 to Lake
Nicaragua (or Lake Cocibolca, the second
largest lake in Latin America after Lake Titicaca),
and 23.2 km 3 to the San Juan River (FAO 2002g).
Panama possesses the mid and lower
section of the Changuinola River. It is in the
Panamanian section where agricultural use and
urban growth intensifies. The other two shared
basins are the Sixaola River, which is protected
by La Amistad Biosphere Reserve in Panama and
Costa Rica, and the Jurado River, which is part
of Darién National Park in Panama.
Unlike in Central America, the water relationship
between the two countries that share
Hispaniola Island is not highly interdependent.
This may be because the island’s international
river basins are not located in important population
centers (FAO 2002e).
2.5 TRIGGERS OF ENVIRONMENTAL
CHANGE AND CONFLICT POTENTIAL
IN CENTRAL AMERICA
Watershed deterioration and water pollution are
the most important factors of environmental
change in transboundary river basins in Central
America. Many Central American watersheds are
28 — Hydropolitical Vulnerability and Resilience along International Waters: Latin America and the Caribbean