HYDROLOGY OF COSTA RICA PROGRAM

Human beings use water in multiple activities and in these uses they morphologically change the ecohydrological state of the bodies of water being used. In many places water is extracted beyond ecological sustainable levels and new compounds are introduced which alter water’s physical chemistry. These changes impact the ecosystems and populations that depend on this life giving resource. Water is an essential resource for life, for the functioning of ecosystems and for the socioeconomic development of communities. The interconnectivity of the world is undeniable; the poor management of water resources impacts everyone, and now climate change has exacerbated the water crisis across the world.

The rivers of the planet have been gravely affected and intensely polluted by human activity. The increase in organic matter from sewage, plastic waste, pathogens and nutrients from agricultural runoff, pollutants from industry, ongoing decrease in biodiversity and aquatic health, as well as the established negative impacts all these have on human health, make the current paradigm deleterious.

With increased means of production our societies have intensified consumption habits. There is unrelenting urbanization, supported by harmful agricultural practices. There’s accelerated deterioration and devastation of habitats for biodiversity with the depletion of natural resources essential for all living beings. In addition, increased recurrence of extreme hydrometeorological phenomena, the massive extinction of species, and the degradation of soils, all confirm the urgency for a new paradigm. 

Establishing a paradigm that guarantees a healthy ecosystem for all inhabitants, that is harmonious with nature, that can make multi-generational commitments for the future of our world is imperative.

Several proposals such as Regenerative Development and Integrated Water Resources Management seek to address the triple emergency of climate change, pollution, and growing deterioration of ecosystems with the consequent extinction of species, as declared by the Secretary General of the United Nations in 2021.

As a whole, the harmful impacts which human societies have inflicted on the environment have their origin in an anthropocentric perception of nature, in the reckless use and management of natural resources, and human disconnection to their own environment. 

Access and participation in decision-making spaces for groups, social organizations, citizens, peoples and indigenous communities advocating for the environment is very limited. As a consequence, the human right to live in a healthy environment is diminished. Non-existent sewage services or improperly managed bodies of water expose communities to preventable health risks. The inadequate management of urban, industrial, and agricultural wastewater, exposes hundreds of millions of people worldwide to dangerously contaminated drinking water everyday. Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of water-borne diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and polio, as well as water-related disease vectors such as dengue, malaria, chikungunya, and zika. The Covid-19 pandemic has, of course, exacerbated all these health risks.

Faced with all the above, the permanent protection of the planet's rivers is critical in the effort to adapt judiciously and intelligently to climate change. The ongoing global crisis caused by the pandemic requires the redoubling of efforts to protect the health and quality of the waters in our rivers. 

In conclusion, surface water bodies suffer significant pressures as a result of human activity, affecting their ability to maintain the flow of goods and services in our hydric ecosystems which biodiversity and human population depend on for survival.

As Costa Rica celebrated its bicentennial in 2021, its society has demonstrated the ability to generate social and ecological transformation. A good example of this transformation has been the nation’s ability to reverse a deforestation trend.

Costa Rica today is a greener country than it was 20 years ago. Forest cover reached 59% of the territory in 2020 as compared to 47% in the early 2000s according to World Bank data. The nation has also transformed the electricity matrix, to a matrix that is practically emission-free, and just as notable is the nation’s plan to decarbonize its economy by 2050.

Hydrologically Costa Rica is divided into three major slopes or basins: the Pacific Ocean slope, the Caribbean Sea slope and the San Juan River slope, and there are 34 principal drainage basins which receive an abundant amount of rainwater every year. Costa Rica’s abundant water resources are generally accessible to its population with few limitations. The country’s river system supports a great diversity of ecosystems that are essential for the social and economic well-being of the nation. Despite low hydric stress and great abundance of water resources, the nation’s rivers are exposed to a series of pressures that affect their natural conditions.

According to data from National Policy for Wastewater Sanitation, approximately 84% of ordinary wastewater and 55% of industrial wastewater are discharged directly into the nation's bodies of water. Data from Ministry of Health reports suggest that at least 165,000 cubic meters of industrial wastewater are discharged daily, of which approximately 83,000 cubic meters correspond to urban areas. The river systems in the Greater Metropolitan Area, where 3.1 million or 60% of where the nation’s population lives, stand in stark contrast with the nation’s environmental plans and its international reputation as an environmental defender.

Water quality tests conducted by National Water Laboratory in 2018 concluded that both the Maria Aguilar and Torres rivers, which are both located in the central valley, are severely contaminated when measured by Dutch Water Quality Index (IHCA) standards. While drinking water is good in many parts of the country, there are still many concerns about the quality of water in streams and lakes. Only 14% of the nation's wastewaters receive treatment. The 3 main sources of surface water pollution are untreated effluents from urban wastewater (20%), solid waste and industrial effluents (40%), of which heavy metals are the primary culprit. The remaining pollution is from the agricultural sector (40%).

Water basins that receive large quantities of contaminated runoff include the Grande de Tárcoles and Large Terraba rivers. These river systems as well as others, have experienced extreme loss of habits and corresponding biodiversity, and are severely polluted. In spite of having officially designated protection and conservation areas surrounding urban rivers, these areas are rarely, if ever protected or conserved from urban encroachment. Costa Rica is in a compromised situation; the natural regenerative capacity of its aquatic ecosystems has been severely reduced.

Culturally, Costa Rica also has socio-ecological contradictions. A recent opinion poll from the Political Studies Research Center (CIEP) of the University of Costa Rica, found an equally divided nation among those in favor of maintaining the ban on oil exploration, and of those who support lifting the ban (with and without restrictions). With a population exerting increasing pressure on the natural environment and the State’s institutional inability to enforce its own commitments to the environment, the collective narrative which touts Costa Rica as a champion of environmental protection and conservation is rendered dissonant.

In September of 2021 the International Hydropower Association hosted the World Hydropower Congress in Costa Rica, as the nation has a long history building and managing hydroelectric plants; this made for the perfect venue. In 2020, Costa Rica generated 72% of its energy from hydropower, 14.9% from geothermal sources, 12% from wind and less than 1% ​​from biomass and solar panels, which allowed the nation to claim 98% renewable energy for the 6th straight year. 

This claim however distorts the term sustainable energy. In today’s world there are few justifications for claiming hydroelectric power as a clean, green, sustainable or renewable source of energy. In both Europe and North America for example, demolishing these hydroelectric plants has been ongoing now for several decades. Costa Rica itself has seen a few small victories rolling back plans to build more hydroelectric plants, like the Diquis project. However, when faced with the reality of its river systems, its contribution to environmental problems like deforestation, soil erosion from poor land management, coastal marine pollution, weak fisheries protection, solid waste management, and air pollution, Costa Rica’s reputation as a green country is not congruent with its reality.

With this backdrop, the Alianza Nacional Ríos y Cuencas de Costa Rica presents:

PROGRAM
DESCRIPTION

The program is scheduled for 13 days, during which time participants will receive presentations from subject matter experts and go on supporting field trips to relevant institutions and river basins throughout the country.

Participants will receive theoretical and practical knowledge so they may recognize the characteristics of the different types of basins, as well as current management practices relevant to each location visited in the country.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE

The main objective of this program is to exchange experience and knowledge about the hydrology of Costa Rica from the concept of hydrographic basins  and its ecosystem management.

Additionally, the program aims to analyze the effects human activity has on the water resources we all share. At the end of the program participants will acquire the following knowledge:

• General overview of the current status of the hydrological and environmental situation of some of the rural and urban rivers in the country.

• General overview of legal, technical, scientific and social mechanisms of the country's hydrographic basins.

• Understanding of some of the key problems the nation’s rivers are facing and policy proposals currently in place to address these challenges.

METHODOLOGY

This program is developed through a learning methodology based on a theoretical experiential exchange (first-hand experience), with the aim of understanding the hydrology, use and management of some of the country's hydrographic basins.

THEORETICAL APPROACH

The objective is to provide participants with a theoretical base which establishes a general vision of the hydrological system in Costa Rica, and increases their ability to analyze the country in terms of the management of its hydrographic basins and their sustainability. The topics of the program will be oriented in four areas: natural environment, hydrogeology, hydrology, and climatology.

KEY TRANSFORMATIONS

Beyond the specificity of the program theme, the organizers aim to move participants:

1. From an anthropocentric vision of the world, ​​to a vision of solidarity between the natural world and the human world. 

2. From a society that only understands present interests, to a society that is oriented towards intergenerational justice, based on the principle of responsibility for future generations.

DAY 1: ARRIVAL

Participants will arrive to a welcome dinner in the San Jose, where they will meet program participants and receive a program summary overview.

DAY 2

Participants will be welcomed by official authorities during protocol visits to the Legislative Assembly, first power of the Republic, the Supreme Court of Justice and the Ministry of Environment and Energy with the purpose of understanding the respective environmental aspects in each institution:

• In the Legislative Assembly participants will receive an overview presentation of Costa Rica’s response to its environmental problems, its initiatives promoting environmental awareness, and about its efforts in "greening" the public sector.

• In the Supreme Court of Justice participants will learn about the court’s role in upholding the nation’s environmental laws which aim at maintaining a healthy and safe environment for its citizens.

• At the Ministry of Environment and Energy participants will learn about the institution’s mission which aims to contribute to the improvement in the quality of life of the country's inhabitants by promoting the management, conservation and sustainable development of the nation's natural resources.  

DAY 3

The day starts with a visit to the National Water Laboratory, a leading center for analysis, monitoring and control of water quality in Costa Rica, to learn how the institution contributes to the improvement of the health and quality of life of Costa Ricans.

Participants will learn about the Commission for the Management and Rescue of the Birris River and Paez sub-rivers basins which are vital tributaries of the Reventazón River basin. The commission’s main objective is to create synergies between different institutions, local governments, academies, grassroots administrative associations known as ASADAS, as well as community leaders, in order to strengthen local capacities in the different territories that make up the sub-basins.

Guided by principles of collaboration, co-management and local governance, the commission has introduced environmental practices such as the storage rainwater storage systems known as rainwater harvesting, biological beds, integral and organic farms, as well as reforestation in protected areas, clean-up campaigns, and they have done so by focusing mainly on protected areas such as springs, rivers and buffer zones to protected wild areas.

DAY 4

The day will be spent in the world renowned Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), an international institute for agricultural development and biological conservation in Central America. Originally established in 1942, CATIE was the first graduate school in Agricultural Sciences in Latin America.

During the field visit, participants will receive a guided tour of the facilities grounds and receive lectures on the subjects of Integrated Management of the Hydrographic Basins of Costa Rica and Hydrographic Basins, Integration Efforts, Latin America and Caribbean.

DAY 5

Participants will visit Guayabo National Monument, a world heritage civil engineering site, as designated by the American Association of Civil Engineers. Guayabo contains structures such as paths, roads, steps, bridges, water tanks, and aqueducts. The monument is the most important archaeological site in Costa Rica and dates from 1000 BC to 1400 AD.

In the afternoon participants will hike down to the Pacuare river which is one of the most pristine rivers in the country. The river flows approximately 108km (67 mi) to the Caribbean and is a popular location for white water rafting, whitewater kayaking and riverboarding. 

The rainforests that surround the river are home to exotic animal species such as jaguars, monkeys, ocelots, and a very large number of birds. In 1986 Costa Rica's state-owned electricity agency suggested the possibility of building a hydroelectric dam on the river, but the plan never materialized due to concerns about the pollution and other impacts on tourism and the ecology of the river and its surroundings.

Day 6

Participants will be provided a broad overview of the management of Reventazon river basin, the role of the COMCURE Commision, and the importance of the Reventazon river and its main hydropower plant. 

The Reventazón River is the second largest river in the country, after the Grande de Térraba River, and the most important in the Caribbean slope. The first human settlements in Costa Rica were built on its banks approximately 10,000 years ago.  Today the basin supports important agricultural activity, it generates 25% of the drinking water consumed in the Greater Metropolitan Area, and produces 38% of the electricity consumed in Costa Rica.  Notwithstanding all these positive aspects, the Reventazón is the second most polluted river in the country, after the Grande de Tárcoles River. 

The non-sustainable use of this hydrographic basin has disturbed the natural hydrological cycles of the basin, resulting in increased floods and droughts, as well as an increase in pollution which raises the costs of supplying water for human consumption and puts many species of our flora and fauna in danger of extinction. This led to the commission of COMCURE in 2000, the nation's only existing river basin commission with administrative and legislative authority to manage and restore the upper Reventazón river basin. 

The Reventazón hydroelectric plant has an installed capacity of 305.5 megawatts, the largest in the country and Central America.  The dam is a concrete-faced, rock-fill dam on the Reventazón River, about 8 km southwest of Siquirres, in the province of Limón. Inaugurated  in 2016, its main objective is to produce hydroelectric energy; this dam is the 4th dam built on the Reventazón river by the government-run electricity and telecommunications services provider ICE.

Day 7

On this day participants will learn about the importance of Braulio Carrillo National Park whose landscape consists of high mountains densely covered with forests and lots of canyons where several rivers and streams of great importance in the production of hydroelectricity run. 

Additionally, participants will learn about the  Sarapiquí river which originates on the Caribbean slope of the Braulio Carrillo National Park. This river is of great hydric, ecological, and economic importance in the region. Participants will learn about the current Legislative Bill proposal for the sustainable development and protection of the Sarapiquí river basin.

Day 8

Day 8 will begin with participants traversing across the scenic northern highlands of Costa Rica on their way to the Miravalles geothermal plant on the slopes of the Miravalles volcano to learn about geothermal power. Geothermal energy is clean, almost inexhaustible, low production cost, with minimal environmental impact and available regardless of weather conditions. Today, the country has the third largest installed geothermal capacity in the Americas, behind the United States and Mexico.

The Miravalles III geothermal plant, which is now owned by the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), is the nation's first and only public works concession to date in the geothermal field. Originally developed by a Japanese and American consortium with a BOT contract and concession, the plant entered into operation in March 2000 with an installed capacity of 29.5 MW, which allows an annual production of 215 GWh and provides electricity to more than 60,000 homes. Along the way to the plant participants will dip their toes in the warm waters of the Arenal river and get a perspective of the size and scope of Lake Arenal, the country's largest lake with a surface that covers nearly 33 square miles (85 square km) and a depth that reaches some 200 feet (60 m). The lake's landscape is visually impressive with the Arenal Volcano on the western horizon and its shorelines are surrounded by verdant rolling hills. This man-made lake is the result of an ambitious hydroelectric power generation project in Costa Rica which now produces nearly 12% of the country’s total electricity. 

The dam’s construction displaced the Arenal Viejo and Tronadora communities, which were flooded after being relocated prior to the lake’s expansion. The extensive rain and cloud forests that grow around the lake help feed it abundant rainwater. The region's forests are home to a rich biodiversity made up of around 2,000 species of plants, 120 species of mammals, and around 300 species of birds. The presence of the jaguar, the quetzal and the tapir stands out. The lake itself is a popular place to fish, boat, and windsurf; activities which generate economic growth for the local community. 

DAY 9

On this day participants will visit the Regional Office of the National Service of Groundwater, Irrigation and Drainage (SENARA) where they will learn about expansion of the Arenal-Tempisque Irrigation District (DRAT) which services an area around 29,500 Ha. with irrigation services, and water for fish farming; a network of hydro-agricultural infrastructure that includes: 4 diversion dams, 343 km of irrigation canals and low pressure pipes, 139 km of drainage canals, 310 km of roads and about 2,680 complementary hydraulic structures. In total, it benefits nearly 1,000 producers directly and a large number of citizens indirectly.

The Tempisque River is Costa Rica’s third longest  river and its watershed occupies 60 percent of the land in Guanacaste province and one-tenth of Costa Rican territory. The nearly 145-kilometers long Tempisque River starts in the Guanacaste mountain range between the Orosí and Rincón de la Vieja volcanoes and empties into the Gulf of Nicoya, feeding a large network of mangrove-lined, protected wetlands near its mouth. It is a river of extremes, capable of disastrous floods in the rainy season and withering droughts in summer.

Day 10

On this day participants will visit the National University of Costa Rica’s (UNA) Water Resources Center for Central America and the Caribbean (HIDROCEC), which specializes in the study of water resources, with a focus on water quality, basin management and water treatment. HIDROCEC aims to be a link between the academic community, the private sector and the government to address Comprehensive Management of Water Resources and alternative energies.

During the visit participants will learn about community initiatives aimed at increasing water monitoring and improving water quality of the rivers in these communities. Participants will also monitor water quality testing alongside HIDROCEC experts.

Day 11

On this day participants will visit Los Tajos Wastewater Treatment Plant (AyA) located in the heart of the capital city, San jose. When compared to other countries Costa Rica has low capacity in regards to its treatment of sewage water. In 2015, the Tajos Wastewater Treatment Plant was inaugurated to begin addressing this shortcoming and to alleviate the pollution load of the rivers María Aguilar, Tiribí and Torres. 

The facility is the biggest in the country and provides service to 65% of the estimated population of the country’s greater metropolitan area or approximately 1.3 million inhabitants. The plant is a primary wastewater treatment plant (i.e. physical-chemical), which fully treats sludge at an average daily flow rate of 2.81 m3/s and a daily maximum of 3.45 m3/s (Stage I). The Los Tajos WWTP is the core element in Phase I of the Environmental Improvement Project for San José, an action program for the rehabilitation and extension of the sewerage network and secondary connections of over 360 kilometers.

Day 12

On this day participants will visit the local public utilities cooperative COOPESANTOS and its wind farm which serves over 36,000 associates and clients in 120 communities and covering an area of ​​1,500 square kilometers. Here participants will learn about the organization's environmental efforts and water resource protection program.