“We never know the value of water till the well is dry”

A research to investigate solutions for water shortages in the district of Nosara, Costa Rica.

Research Report

Name: Remona van der Zon

E-mail: r.vanderzon@live.nl

Date: 15/07/2016

Supervisor: Dr. Femke van Noorloos

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The impressive growth in tourism and real estate in Guanacaste has consequences for natural

resources. The tourism industry is known as a substantial contributor to local water demand and this

additional demand may lead to water stress. In addition to that, the province of Guanacaste has

more dry summer seasons with little or no rain. This resulted in the situation that Guanacaste is

facing increasing water scarcity. In order to expand the knowledge about the relation between

governing water and tourism, this research aims to identify different solutions for water shortages in

the district Nosara to sustain water supply in times of water scarcity and in the future. The case of

Nosara is interesting because it traditionally has a community that is committed to protect the

environment. However, they have been unable to sustain the water resources. This case is

interesting because of the specific water governance structure of Costa Rica in which the community

controls the water supply. The outcomes of this research could be relevant for institutions that are

involved in the governance of water in the district of Nosara. The aim of identifying different

solutions for water shortages leads to the following research question: “What could be, in times of

water scarcity and in the future, solutions for the water shortages in the district of Nosara,

Guanacaste?” To address on this question, a stakeholder analysis is conducted by using a mixed-

method design of surveys and interviews with different actors involved in the water problem.

Relevant theories to explain the circumstances in Nosara are those of the common pool resources

theory, social-ecological systems theory and the approach of political ecology.

The current research shows that the ASADAs, residents, tourism-sector, NCA and AyA are the

most important stakeholders in the water problem. The majority of the residents indicated that there

was no or slightly a water problem in the past and that the situation got worse in the last couple of

years. Natural circumstances, deforestation, over usage, poor infrastructure and lack of collaboration

are main causes of the water shortages that have underlying causes as climate change, community

growth, land use change, lack of investments and mismanagement. According to the most residents

of the district of Nosara, the ASADAs and residents themselves are responsible for fixing the water

problems. Effects of tourism are not specifically included in local policies of the district Nosara. It was

found that additional wells, improving infrastructure and “smart homes” are the best technical

solutions. More collaboration, education and increase or differentiate water rates are the best policy

solutions. Besides, residents should contribute themselves to improve the water situation. To

conclude: short term solutions done by residents themselves are currently the most realistic ones,

but policy solutions are important as well, although these depend on the cooperation of several

institutions.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Slightly more than half a year ago I started preparations for my first field research abroad. This

policy-oriented report presents the research on water shortages in the district of Nosara, Costa Rica.

Here, I would like to thank all of those taking their time to contribute to this process.

First of all, I am very grateful to all the residents that were willing to participate in the survey.

Unfortunately it is not possible to name everyone here, but I would like to thank all the people who

gave their time and opinions during the interviews. I had never expected that people were so helpful

to bring me in contact with other people who could be relevant for the research. In addition, I would

like to thank those people who gave me a ride to locations for interviews and surveys where I was

not able to go to by bike. Moreover, I have really appreciated the advice, support and visits from my

family and friends while staying in Nosara for over three months. Additionally, I would like to give

thanks to my supervisor Dr. Femke van Noorloos for her guidance and feedback throughout the

process.

Remona van der Zon

Hoofddorp, The Netherlands

July, 2016

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................. 3

Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. 5

Table of contents ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Table of figures ........................................................................................................................................ 9

List of boxes ............................................................................................................................................. 9

List of tables ............................................................................................................................................ 9

List of abbreviations .............................................................................................................................. 10

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 11

2 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................. 13

Major theories ....................................................................................................................... 13

Literature review ................................................................................................................... 17

3 Regional Thematic Framework ...................................................................................................... 21

Background ............................................................................................................................ 21

Water problems..................................................................................................................... 22

Policies on water ................................................................................................................... 24

4 Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 26

Research questions................................................................................................................ 26

Operationalization ................................................................................................................. 26

Research instruments ............................................................................................................ 28

Limitations and ethical issues ................................................................................................ 30

Empirical Chapters (5, 6, 7) ................................................................................................................... 31

5 Mapping the situation ................................................................................................................... 32

Who’s in? ............................................................................................................................... 32

Does everybody know? ......................................................................................................... 33

Situation in the past and in the future .................................................................................. 34

Experiences with water shortages ........................................................................................ 36

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The cause of the water shortages ......................................................................................... 37

Lack of knowledge ................................................................................................................. 42

6 The “Who” question ...................................................................................................................... 43

Who is responsible for fixing of the problem? ...................................................................... 43

Who can make a difference? ................................................................................................. 44

Who should implement solutions? ....................................................................................... 44

Which scale? .......................................................................................................................... 45

Changes in water governance ............................................................................................... 45

Who is going to pay? ............................................................................................................. 46

7 Finding solutions............................................................................................................................ 48

Technical solutions ................................................................................................................ 48

Policy solutions ...................................................................................................................... 48

Contribute on personal level ................................................................................................. 51

Constraints on solutions ........................................................................................................ 52

Explaining viewpoints ............................................................................................................ 53

8 Discussion ...................................................................................................................................... 55

9 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 59

10 Policy recommendations ........................................................................................................... 62

Specific recommendations for ASADAs in the district of Nosara .......................................... 62

Specific recommendations for tourism and real-estate development ................................. 63

Recommendations residents ................................................................................................. 63

References ............................................................................................................................................. 64

Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 68

1. List of respondents .................................................................................................................... 68

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TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1 Map of Costa Rica .................................................................................................................... 21

Figure 2 Hydrogeological map on the potential of aquifers ................................................................. 23

Figure 3 Source of water of foreign residents and local residents ........................................................ 34

Figure 4 Total annual rainfall in Nosara (mm). ...................................................................................... 37

Figure 5 Lots and houses for sale or sold in the Nosara District ........................................................... 38

Figure 6 Map of Nosara District............................................................................................................. 41

Figure 7 Causes of the water shortages ................................................................................................ 42

Figure 8 Percentages of actors responsible for fixing the water problem ............................................ 43

Figure 9 Percentages of actors who should implement solutions. ....................................................... 44

Figure 10 Percentages of on which scale solutions should be implemented ....................................... 45

Figure 11 Grey-water recycling at the Harmony Hotel and rainwater harvesting ................................ 51

LIST OF BOXES

Box 1 Population growth of Nosara ...................................................................................................... 35

Box 2 Land use change .......................................................................................................................... 39

Box 3 The gap between local and foreign residents ............................................................................. 53

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1 Main governance agencies responsible for water in Costa Rica. ............................................. 25

Table 2 Stakeholders involved in this research ..................................................................................... 29

Table 3 Amount of people who indicated currently facing water problems ........................................ 36

Table 4 Amount of people using different sources of water ................................................................ 36

Table 5 Number of Users of Nosara’s ASADAs ...................................................................................... 40

Table 6 Solutions for the water shortages ............................................................................................ 61

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ARESEP La Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos

ASADAS Asociaciones Administradoras de Sistemas de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Sanitarios

AYA Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados

GWP Global Water Partnership

ICE Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad

IMN Instituto Meteorológico Nacional

INDER Instituto de Desarrollo Rural

MINAET El Ministerio del Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones

NCA Nosara Civic Association

SENARA Servicio Nacional de Aguas Subterráneas Riego y Avenamiento

UN United Nations

UNEP United Nations Enviromental Programme

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

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1 INTRODUCTION

“Despite New Well, Guiones Rings in New Year with Little Water and Lots of Tourists” (La Voz de

Guanacaste, 31/12/2015). The region of Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada and Playas de Nosara that is

located in the north of the pacific coast of Costa Rica, is facing pressures on water resources due to

the large number of tourists visiting the region for the holiday season. The water supplier ASADA had

even to perform night-time water shutoffs to reduce the water consumption. The ASADA expect that

they also might have water shortage problems during the driest months of the year, March and April,

because Guanacaste received 40% less rainfall in 2015. Remarkable is that water consumption in

Playas de Nosara triples during the high-season for tourism, while the consumption in the town of

Nosara remains stable throughout the year (La Voz de Guanacaste, 2015).

Increasing intensity of agricultural production, urbanisation and general rapid development

are recent trends which have led to increased pressure on freshwater resources with leads to

growing risks of water stress. In the last sixty years, domestic water use alone has grown on average

by 2.2% every year globally (Becken, 2014). The United Nations highlights the importance of

freshwater and the need to manage water resources sustainably. All social and economic activities

and ecosystem functions depend on water which requires appropriate governance arrangements. In

the World Water Development Report is mentioned that “robust governance mechanisms are

required to protect water resources and ensure sustainable development and equitable distribution

of water-derived benefits”. It also refers to the need to involve industry and its unsustainable use of

freshwater resources (United Nations, 2012). The tourism industry is known as a substantial

contributor to local water demand and this additional demand may lead to water stress. Because

tourism related water use and that of the local population primarily draw both on municipal water

supply, it is most likely that they compete (Becken, 2014). Besides, governments worldwide are

advocating the privatisation of water while privatised water is delivered to those who can pay for it.

This could lead to inequalities in water access and availability (Barlow, 2002).

While Costa Rica is classified as a tropical country, the province of Guanacaste experiences

the driest summer seasons with little or no rain. Besides, the impressive growth in tourism and real

estate has consequences for natural resources. Together, this resulted in the situation that

Guanacaste is facing increasing water scarcity which is reinforced by the overexploitation of limited

groundwater resources in the province. There are several articles written about governance

scenarios relating to water conflicts and water governance regimes in the Guanacaste province.

Kuzdas, Wiek, Warner, Vignola & Morataya (2015) analysed the water policy in Guanacaste and

recommended that further research is needed to implement and test alternative ways of governing

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water. The integration of different types of research could help support sustainable water

governance in Guanacaste. However, the literature does not deepen the relation with the expanding

tourism in the Guanacaste province. Bower (2014) did mention specifically the relation between

water problems and private water supply pipelines for tourism and real estate projects. According to

that article, more research should be done in the field of developing comprehensive water resource,

supply and sanitation plans, outlining goals and responsibilities for sustainable water use. Recently

conducted research did not make a relation between water policies and tourism. Concluded can be

that there is need for developing a plan for sustainable water use in the tourism sector of

Guanacaste, which should start by indicating who the stakeholders are and what solutions could

improve the situation.

In order to expand the knowledge about the relation between governing water and tourism,

this research aims to identify different solutions for water shortages in the district Nosara to sustain

water supply in times of water scarcity and in the future. Climate scientists predict that the

Guanacaste province will experience less rainfall and more intense dry seasons in the future (Kusdaz

et. al., 2015). Specifically, this case is interesting because Nosara traditionally has a community that is

committed to protect the environment. Despite that, they have been unable to sustain the water

resources. The outcomes of this research could therefore be relevant for institutions who are

involved in the governance of water in the district of Nosara. They could use the proposed solutions

for reaching a sustainable use of water and less water shortages by integrating them in policies and

actions related to water and tourism. In turn, this can lead to the reduction of water shortages and a

more sustainable use of water in regions of Costa Rica which are facing water scarcity as a result of

expanding tourism. Besides, this case is interesting because of the specific water governance

structure of Costa Rica in which the community controls the water supply while there is rapid

tourism growth. The aim of identifying different solutions for water shortages leads to the following

research question:

RQ: What could be, in times of water scarcity and in the future, solutions for the water shortages in

the district of Nosara, Guanacaste?

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2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

MAJOR THEORIES

Political Ecology

The interdisciplinary approach of political ecology has emerged for analysing human-environmental

interactions, particularly when they are associated with economic development in the “third world”.

Political ecology tries to understand how political and environmental forces interact to have an

influence on social and environmental changes that are caused by actions of various social actors at

different scales (Stonich, 1998). This interest in scale concepts focuses on socio-natural scaling which

takes place by merging of biogeophysical processes with broadly social ones. The interface between

human activities and the environment such as irrigation or groundwater extraction are emerged by

human-shaped biogeophysical factors and flows (Zimmerer, 2000). Political ecology analysis contains

which social actors benefit and which are disadvantaged by direct resource use and who has

influence, it includes international interests and the function of the global economy and the role of

the state in implementing policies that favour interests of certain social actors. Furthermore political

ecology contains the relationship of class and ethnic structures to conflicts over access to resources,

interrelations among local resource users and diversity in the decisions of local resource managers

(Stonich, 1998).

One major thrust of research that uses a political ecology approach has given priority to

human impoverishment and environmental destruction due to development models operating in

collaboration with the state. Impoverishment in this case is often related to diminished access to

land or natural resources as water. As a consequence of vulnerability and lack of power of local

people, smallholder producers often have received an unequal part of environmental decline.

Furthermore, a large part of natural resources are being degraded by the activities of more powerful

private, public and corporate interests. The political ecology approach applied to development in the

Third World has indicated that the main issue underlying environmental destruction and human

poverty is inequality in access to resources within a socially institutionalized context (Stonich, 1998).

Issues regarding water is an illustration of how nature and society became one in a socio-

geographical structure that privileges some and excludes others. Nature and society are therefore

merged to form a political ecology that combines the power of socially mobilized and ecologically

transformed nature with the power of money (Swyngedouw, 1997). For example in the case of

ground water, problems arise because widespread over pumping that exceeds the natural recharge

capacities of aquifers contributed to decreasing quality of aquifer waters. The limits of the national

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hydrological capacity have been reached in some cases which resulted in international solutions

being sought. For example urban development is associated with an expanding water frontier and

growing impact of the water cycle, which leads often to unsustainable practices of expanding

resource extraction and intensified conflict (Swyngedouw, Kaïka & Castro, 2002). Especially

associated with the expanding of tourism, elements such as interconnections among excessive

foreign ownership, the linkages among various social actors at various levels of analysis and the

growing social conflicts between stakeholders over control of local resources is part of the political

ecology analysis as well (Stonich, 1998).

Systems View of the Environment

All humanly used resources are embedded in complicated social-ecological systems. Subsystems such

as a resource system, resource units, users, and governance systems can be separated but interact to

produce outcomes at the social-ecological systems level. In turn this affects the subsystems and their

components. In very large, open-access systems predicted is that a resource would collapse when the

resource harvesters are diverse, do not communicate and are unsuccessful in developing rules and

norms for managing the resource. However, some social-ecological systems are sustainable while

others collapse. Therefore identification and analysis of relationships should be done among multiple

levels of these complex systems at different spatial and temporal scales (Ostrom, 2009).

Because of the characteristics as uncertainty, scale and non-linearity, complex systems have

a few important implications for conservation and environmental management. The older command-

and-control resource management is based on linear cause-effect thinking and aims to reduce

natural variation to make the ecosystem more productive, controllable and predictable. This

reduction could actually lead to a loss of resilience in a system, which makes it more susceptible to

crises. Despite the fact that the natural variation of water is not being reduced, characteristics as

productive, controllable and predictable are important for water as well. Scale has implications for

the relation between institutions and ecosystems. Can a certain conservation problem be managed

by a centralized agency or are there more appropriate structures of governance in which the scale of

the ecosystem is considered? Mismatches of scale may be one of the key arguments for failure of

environmental management, also in case of water (Berkes, 2004).

A framework could be used for analyzing outcomes achieved in social-ecological systems. It

includes the relationships among four-first level core subsystems that affect each other as well as

linked social, economic, political settings and related ecosystems. In the case of water, the first

subsystem is the resource system which is the water system. The second subsystem is the resource

units, which is the amount and flow of water. The third subsystem is the governance system which

refers to the government and other organizations that manage the specific rules related to the use of

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water and how these rules are made. The fourth subsystem is the users of the resource, the ones

who consume water for different purposes. Each core subsystem is created out of multiple second-

level variables as the size of a resource system, the level of governance or the user’s knowledge of

the resource system. Such a framework as described above is useful in providing a set of relevant

variables to use in the analysis of findings about the sustainability of complex social-ecological

systems (Ostrom, 2009).

The incorporation of the dynamic interactions between societies and natural systems has

become increasingly important, but there is little agreement on how this can be accomplished.

Social-ecological systems thinking refers to the idea that humans are part of ecosystems. By putting

humans back into the ecosystem, using all sources of ecological knowledge is required. Knowledge

and perspectives of the community can help expanding the information base that is available from

scientific studies. But communities are complex in how they are changing constantly, so images of

long-standing sources of authority need to be attended with caution. It is more productive to focus

on institutions, which is defined as the set of rules actually used in incorporate interactions between

societies and natural systems (Berkes, 2004). However, research in multiple disciplines has assumed

that resource users could self-organize to maintain their resources sustainable because some

institutions as government policies accelerate resource destruction (Ostrom, 2009). If expected

benefits of managing a resource surpass the perceived costs of investing in better norms and rules

for the majority of the users and their leaders, the chance that users will organize themselves is high.

However, users need to observe some scarcity before they invest in self-organization (Ostrom, 2009).

Community-Based Natural Resource Management

In environmental problems, there is too much uncertainty to use conventional approaches of

research. Those problems cannot be separated from issues of values, social justice and equity and

should be addressed by for example participatory conservation and management. Therefore, a kind

of approach to science and management should be used in which researchers and stakeholders

interact to define objectives of study, important questions, relevance of evidence and convincing

forms of arguments. It requires case studies situated in particular places to understand the dynamic

interaction between nature and society. Working partnerships can be developed between managers

and resource users to deal with the implications of complex systems. This approach of involving the

community actively into the management process is basically different from the command-and-

control style. If equity and empowerment issues can be addressed in community-based natural

resource managment, livelihoods can drive conservation by themselves (Berkes, 2004).

The emphasis in community-based resource management is on more inclusive, people-

oriented and community-based approaches to conservation and management in which both

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interests of conservation and development could be served. The results of community-based

conservation experiments have been mixed which led to a debate in the literature about the merits

of it. This type of conservation can be seen in the context of larger historical conceptual shifts that

have been appearing in ecology. Community-based conservation has developed when the conceptual

shift from reductionism to a systems view of the world took place, a shift to include humans in the

ecosystem appeared, and the shift from an expert-based approach to participatory conservation and

management emerged (Berkes, 2004). In community-based conservation, the experience of

communities with the environment, along with access to and control over the use of natural

resources is central to the explanations of conservation (Campbell & Vainio-Mattila, 2003). People’s

actions and practices, carried out within certain institutional contexts, may help to conserve or

reproduce existing ecological processes. In the case of water, this is for example protecting the

existing state of a watershed and its hydrological functions. Besides, people may act as agents who

transform environments by for example plant trees in a watershed (Leach, Mearns & Scoones, 1999).

One of the natural resources that is protected most in community based conservation projects is

water. The focus on such projects is often on the formation of user committees to manage repairs to

water points and to administer established user fees. Furthermore, control over the water source is

in this case maintained by individuals which implies a jurisdiction over how much water is drawn

during the dry season and by whom (Campbell & Vainio-Mattila, 2003). Nevertheless, conservation

cannot be implemented only at one level, because community institutions are only one layer in a

multilevel, increasingly globalized world. This means that resources need to be managed at multiple

levels from local level to various higher levels of social and political organization. However, multilevel

management requires costs as research, monitoring and decision making and needs to include the

question of how to deal with differences in power (Berkes, 2007).

Community-based water management is fundamentally a social process which causes that

scientist and technical experts must develop an understanding of the place-based social world of the

local community. Local people often ignore scientific information if they perceive the messenger as

an outsider who is insensitive to the practices of their cultural identity. Therefore, community-based

water management with assistance from scientists and experts is more effective if they invest time

and energy to establish a relationship and mutual cooperation with members of a local community

(Rhoads, Wilson, Urban & Herricks, 1999).

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LITERATURE REVIEW

Tourism and water

The arrivals of international tourists have been growing almost consistently for the last half century

and reached over one billion. Remarkable is that almost all of the Least Developed Countries

(countries that, according to the United Nations, have the lowest indicators of socioeconomic

development, with the lowest Human Development Index ratings) now rely on tourism as their

primary source of foreign earnings. They are actually the countries where tourism is growing most

rapidly (Becken, 2014). It is well documented in the literature that the tourism industry over-uses

water resources by at least twice as much as permanent residents (UNEP, 2009). Besides, research

highlights the causal relationship between the tourism industry and a variety of negative impacts as

water shortages, the degradation of water supplies and the local environment, and an increased

production of waste water (De Stefano, 2004). In some tourism areas it has actually led to positive

inputs as increased interest in water recycling, desalination and improved water storage capabilities.

The tourism industry puts mainly pressure on water resources in relatively small communities on a

seasonal basis (Lehmann, 2009). This poses existential challenges for local communities, but water

scarcity also becomes an important strategic consideration in planning of tourism companies.

Questions as “How could tourism operators contribute to responsible water use?” and “To what

extent should the tourism industry be engaged in water management planning?” are actually absent

from the academic literature. Furthermore, changes in the distribution of water supply in favour of

tourism and reduced water quality raise questions about water equity (Becken, 2014).

The impact of tourism on fresh water availability and quality is dependent on a wide range of

factors. The relative abundance and quality of water in the tourism region as well as current and

anticipated future water abstraction rates play a role. Furthermore, the share of non-consumptive

versus consumptive uses, the seasonal and spatial character of water extraction, competing uses ad

the treatment of sewage and waste water are factors that contribute to the impact of tourism on

fresh water availability (Gössling, Peeters, Hall, Ceron, Dubois, Lehmann & Scott, 2012). To identify

suitable strategies to deal with water stress in the future, water use inventories as well as modelled

effects of climate change have to be integrated in water use scenarios. Tourism stakeholders can

depending on the outcomes of such models reconsider their business plans (Gössling et. al., 2012).

Tourism is a mayor user of the world’s increasingly scarce water resources and often competes with

the local populations for the supply, especially in places where freshwater tends to be sparse in

tropical and sub-tropical areas. Moreover, in these areas this happens most during the dry season

which usually is at the same time as the tourism season. In some coastal regions extracting

freshwater from the aquifer has led to a lowering of the groundwater tables, the destruction of

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coastal wetlands and to the replacement of freshwater by saltwater (Stonich, 1998).

One of the examples of tourism development and water challenges is Benidorm, a tourism

destination located on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. After the drought of 1978, a crisis emerged

in the tourist sector as result of prospects of insufficient and polluted water and emergency

measures such as the transportation of water by tankers had to be taken. Tourist settlement patterns

influence and are influenced by the type of tourists. Where tourists prefer dense tourist areas with

high concentration of services, residential tourists and permanent residents may prefer less

congested low density areas. These areas are usually larger than the traditional tourist centres. Low

density growth requires much larger networks where the probability of leakage may be very high.

Therefore, high-rise tourist settlements tend to me more efficient in the consumption of

environmental resources than disperse, low density settlements. The presence of large tourist

centres with high hotels does not cause the largest problems, but the creation of golf resorts, small

apartment complexes with all green gardens and private swimming pools. They do not only consume

water in areas where this resource is scarce, but also require public investment in services such as

water supply and wastewater networks (Rico-Amoros, Olcina-Cantos & Sauri, 2009).

Solutions for water shortages

Solutions for problems related to water shortages and tourism can be found in water management

strategies. Water management can be based on two general strategies, demand side management

which aims to reduce water use and supply side management which tries to increase water

provisions. All tourist facilities could save substantial amounts of water by using demand side

management. Technical measures should be taken within gardens, pools, the guest rooms, kitchens,

activities (for instance golf courses) and management. Supply side management refers to various

technical options to increase available water capacities as extracting groundwater and desalination.

However, groundwater is vulnerable to water pollution as a result of poor sewage and water

treatment infrastructure and many coastal aquifers are vulnerable to salinification because of sea-

level rise (Gössling et. al., 2012). Desalination and wastewater reuse are actually advocated as the

best technological alternatives for arid region destinations. Desalination might enhance water

resources, but it requires also energy consumption and is very costly. Therefore this solution is not

always economical, because small-scale installations will have more emissions and higher costs than

large-scale installations (Gössling et. al., 2012). Solar desalination is a more sustainable solution

because it uses a renewable energy source. In regions where is freshwater scarcity, solar resource

abundance and saline water availability, solar desalination is an obvious applicability. Actually, overall

feasibility of solar desalination requires a consideration of factors as economics and environmental

impacts as well as the availability of mature technologies (Pugsley, Zacharopoulos, Mondol, Smyth,

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2016). Another solution for water shortages is the collection of rainwater. This water can be easily

collected and consumed in domestic, commercial and industrial applications. However, the

possibility of the use of rainwater as a resource is dependent on the local precipitation regimes,

especially on the volumes and their temporal variability. Furthermore, storage capacity and the

availability of surfaces for an effective collection of rainwater is also important (Sanches Fernandes,

Terencio, Pacheco, 2015).

To what extent are people willing to pay for solutions? The willingness-to-pay approach

explains the true costs of unfavourable impacts are the total amount that people would be willing to

pay to avoid them (Knetsch, 1990). To estimate the willingness to pay for improvements of

environmental services, the contingent valuation method can be used. This method uses survey and

questioning techniques to estimate values that people place on increments or decrements in a

natural resource. It can include current personal use values, possible future use values and values for

future generation use. The amount of willingness-to-pay tend to increase with the level of income

and education which implies the importance of education in raising people’s awareness about

environmental problems (Jordan & Elnagheeb, 1993).

Water governance

One of the most urgent pressing challenges of this century is the sustainable management of water

resources in times of global change. Explicitly, the unequal distribution at different scales among

regions or different social groups can provide various sources of tension. Technological or

institutional remedies as centralized waste-water treatment plants of privatisation were applied to

all kinds of water issues, but have never been reflected on their effect. Many problems in water

management are associated with governance failures instead of the resource base (Pahl-Wostl,

Holtz, Kastens & Knieper, 2010).

Water governance can be defined as the range of political, social, economic and

administrative systems that are in place to develop and manage water resources, and the delivery of

water services, at different scales of society (The Global Water Partnership, 2003). Governance of

water includes public policies and institutional frameworks that are accepted on social level and

mobilise social resources in support of them. While governance overlaps with technical and

economic aspects of water, governance is responsible for the political and administrative elements of

solving a problem. Besides, this water governance should aim the sustainable development of water

resources in which all the key actors must be involved in the process (Rogers & Hall, 2003).

Traditionally, the governance of resources has been seen as a local-level issue because since

water problems are local, they should be handled at the lowest appropriate governance level.

However, another view is that water governance should be regulated at national level, because

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water is a national resource that should be managed for the benefit of the national society. Thirdly,

another approach to governance of water states that water should be governed on the basin-level

because water-related problems are best dealt with within the natural sphere of the system such as

the watershed. This makes comprehensive problem analysis possible from up- and downstream

relations. However, all of these approaches are not mutually exclusive and different water issues are

dealt with at different levels (Pahl-Wostl, Gupta & Petry, 2008).

The importance of learning and adaptive governance are seen as essential for governing

social-ecological systems when abrupt changes occur. Adaptive governance systems are often self-

organized as social networks with actors that rely on multiple knowledge systems and experiences

for the development of a common understanding and policies. An increase of the adaptive capacity

of governance regimes is required to be able to deal with uncertainty. Adaptive governance can be

described as the ability of a resource governance system to change processes and if required

transform structural elements in order to better deal with experienced and expected changes in the

social or natural environment (Pahl-Wostl et. al., 2010). Executing good governance is characterized

as participatory, transparent, accountable, responsive, efficient, and inclusive and it follows the rule

of the law. However, because of the complexity of specific water governance issues, general patterns

to explain success or failure of governance regimes are hard to define (Rogers & Hall, 2003).

In the case of Costa Rica, Bower (2014) states that there are six inadequacies of the water

supply system. Laws regarding the environment and water exist, but they are not always

implemented because it is often more economical to not comply with those regulations. Motivation

for customers to conserve water lacks, because fees for agricultural use are for example based on

land area owned instead of volume of water used. The national government agencies that have

duties with regard to water appear fragmented and local agencies do not always cooperate with

each other. There is uncertainty about the availability of water; it is hard to tell what uses exist and

what is the actual water budget. Furthermore, financial support for the water supply system is

lacking in Costa Rica and there is a deficiency of trained personnel and insufficient budget at the

Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health) to lead in the promotion of water quality. Besides, there is

not enough budget allocated to support existing infrastructure of invest in future infrastructure,

which makes the situation getting worse. Finally, the current water law is outdated and needs to be

revised. There is currently a new proposed Water Law, but it needs to be discussed more before it

will be implemented (see: section 3.3) (Bower, 2014).

21

3 REGIONAL THEMATIC FRAMEWORK

BACKGROUND

The Republic of Costa Rica is located in Central America bordered on the north by Nicaragua and on

the south by Panama (Fig 1). It is situated between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the Caribbean

Sea on the east. It is the third most densely populated country in South and Central America with a

population of 4.8 million (The World Bank, 2014). Most people live in the Central Valley in which the

capital San José is located. The inhabitants are generally well educated and have a life expectancy of

78 years (Bower, 2014). Guanacaste is a province of Costa Rica which is located in the north western

region of the country, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and borders Nicaragua to the north. It is

the most sparsely populated province of Costa Rica with a surface area of 10.141 km² and a

population of around 360.000. The province is politically divided into eleven cantons in which Nosara

is located in Nicoya (Wikipedia, 2016). There has been an enormous increase in tourism and real

estate development in Guanacaste. Which results in that tourism has become the main source of

income for the province (van Noorloos, 2012). On peak days, more than 3000 tourists arrive at the

International Airport in Liberia (Villalobos, 2016). While the economy increased, the tourism growth

had consequences for natural resources in Costa Rica (see subsection 3.2).

Figure 1 Map of Costa Rica (source: http://subway.mapdictionary.com/mapa-de-costa-rica-2/)

22

Nosara is a village located on the Pacific coast, slightly below the middle of Guanacaste, and has

around 5800 inhabitants. The beaches of Nosara host one of the oldest expat communities in Costa

Rica. While the traditional village of Nosara is six kilometres inland, the majority of hotels and expats

in Nosara are located on the beaches of Playa Guiones and Playa Pelada. People come to Nosara

mainly for surfing and yoga, but it also attracts many eco-tourists. This is because a large portion of

the land in Nosara is protected forest and the community has always strived to harmonize

development with nature conservation. How was the expat community formed? A US citizen bought

in 1962 the entire expanse of land along the coastline of Nosara and developed “The Nosara Project”

which had room for 500 residential plots, commercial sites, a golf course and green zones. Besides,

he built roads and water systems and developed an electricity network. Because of financial

problems, the project was not finished and individual investors took over portions of the land. The

property owners organised themselves in the Nosara Civic Association (NCA) and continued the

project. The association is unique in Costa Rica and its members are committed to balance the

development in Nosara by protecting the environment and keep Nosara free from large-scale

developments and pollution (Ticopages, 2016). With the arrival of foreigners who purchased land to

build their homes, the main type of work among the population changed from traditional farming to

jobs in tourism and construction. The inhabitants who don’t have jobs related to the tourism sector

do for instance fishing and have livestock (Guanacaste Travel Guide, 2016).

WATER PROBLEMS

While Costa Rica is classified as a tropical country, the Guanacaste province experience little rain and

consistent heat from November to April which is called the dry season. Guanacaste is characterised

by many tropical dry forests, volcanoes and an extensive coastline. Climate scientists predict that the

Guanacaste province will experience less rainfall and more intense dry seasons in the future. In

addition to impacts from climate change that will presumably reduce available supplies of water,

many areas in the dry tropics of Central America face increasing water demands due to tourism,

expanding agriculture, rural development programs and population growth (Kuzdaz et. al., 2015).

The impressive growth in tourism and real estate has consequences for natural resources in

Costa Rica. Nowadays, Guanacaste is facing increasing water scarcity which is reinforced by the

overexploitation of limited groundwater resources in the province. The overexploitation is caused by

rapid urbanization and the development of tourism (Van Noorloos, 2012). The water situation of the

coastal area of Guanacaste is critical. It has only small limited-capacity aquifers that are vulnerable to

salt intrusion (Ramírez Cover, 2008). As showed in Figure 2, the district of Nosara consists of two

conditions regarding to the state of the aquifer. In the largest part, aquifers are practically absent

23

and in the coastal area, the aquifer is of a very low potential with limited possibilities of extension

(Plan de Abastecimiento de Agua para Guanacaste, 2008). Although in large parts of the country

ground water is regularly tested to determine rates of recharge and discharge, the aquifer beneath

Nosara is not frequently tested. In general, there is no good knowledge on the aquifers and further

research is necessary in this area (Bower, 2014).

Figure 2 Hydrogeological map on the potential of aquifers (Plan de Abastecimiento de Agua para Guanacaste, 2008).

Furthermore, between 1997 and 2006, almost 70% of the water conflicts in Guanacaste had to do

with coastal tourism and real estate activities (Ramírez Cover, 2008). Developers and individuals are

digging their own wells, with and without permits. This results in a situation in which communities

and policymakers are have no control of the water availability in the region. The problematic high

number of illegal wells which leads to overexploitation are frequently created by tourism developers.

24

The problems of illegal wells, overexploitation and water conflicts have to do with many regulatory

deficiencies of government institutions. Cohesion between responsible institutions, financial and

personnel capacity in these institutions and an inadequate judicial framework is lacking (van

Noorloos, 2012).

POLICIES ON WATER

Tourism is a major part of the economy of Costa Rica which expanded also due to the global increase

in popularity of ecotourism. This expansion did actually led to water supply conflicts in some areas

and water shortages in others. Rapidly developing tourist areas in the province of Guanacaste have

even problems with sewage contamination of coastal water. Private water supply pipelines were

constructed for tourism and real estate projects which results in protests of local residents because it

interfered with their sustainable community planning (Bower, 2014). For more than three decades

Nosara has an expat community which has always tried to balance development with the protection

of the environment. They fought many battles to keep Nosara free from large-scale tourism

development and prevent pollution. How is it possible that Nosara is facing water shortages?

Complex water problems are often assigned to deficiencies in how governance regimes are

designed and implemented. Water supply depends not only on the availability of natural resources

but also on the legal, social, economic and political circumstances (Kuzdas & Wiek, 2014). There are

more than 20 government agencies of Costa Rica that are dealing with water resources; the main

ones for this research are listed in Table 1. It is remarkable that their tasks have the tendency to

overlap, while they often operate without coordination between agencies. Those overlapping duties

create confusion to the implementation of projects which leads to project delays (Bower, 2014).

Costa Rica has not yet created a comprehensive strategy for sustainable management and use of

water resources, and adequate water and sanitation policies are lacking. Some inadequacies of the

water supply system are: laws exist but are not always implemented, little stimulation for customers

to save water, the duties of national government agencies with regard to water overlap, the system

of water concessions (contracts with a grant of water rights) has gaps that results in uncertainty

about water availability, financial support for the water supply system is lacking and there are

problems with the current water law which is recognized by the government (Bower, 2014).

The current Water Law is made in 1942, long before the tremendously growth of the

population, economy and development of Costa Rica (Constitutional Law No. 276, El Congreso

Constitucional De La República De Costa Rica). Under the law, a priority list is used to handle with

water conflicts but this list and most of the document is outdated and need to be reformed. The

Water Law describes water as a public domain. According to the Law, MINAET and ICE (provider of

25

electricity and telecommunications) have the authority for administration and management of water

resources and allocation and should cooperate with ARESEP which is responsible for regulating public

services. However, the present Water Law is not fitting the current social reality of Costa Rica while it

still is the basis for regulation and management of the resource. The current law states for example

that the standard for any permit of water is that it should not affect any existing legally acquired use

and public waters for public services. However, no description or definition exists of the terms used

in that statement. Furthermore, protection of the water resources is not part of the current Water

Law. The fees are charged based on the amount of water used. There exists a new draft of a water

law which is a popular initiative addressing issues as water conflicts (Expediente 14585, Ley De

Recurso Hídrico). Fees will be charged based on the type of activity for which the water is being used

and the quantity of pollution discharged. Besides, the popular initiative includes protection of water

resources by allowing MINAET to regulate or restrict use of water for water bodies that can be

categorized as vulnerable. In the new proposed situation, MINAET will be the administrative sector of

water that is responsible for managing water resources, administrating and investing, processing

application on water harvesting marketing channels and preparing technical studies for development

and planning of the water (Cover-Ruiz, Reilly-Brown & Saavedra, 2009).

Table 1 Main governance agencies responsible for water in Costa Rica (Bower, 2014).

Agency Acronym Purpose

Ministerio del Ambiente,

Energía y Telecomunicaciones

MINAET Responsible overall for water resources, supply,

management, use and protection

Instituto Costarricense de

Acueductos y Alcantarillados

AyA Develops laws and policies regarding water supply,

wastewater and sewage management

National Water Council Coordination of water legislation, research, usage,

development and conservation of water

Servio Nacional de Aguas

Subterráneas Riego y

Avenamiento

SENARA Protects use of surface water and ground water,

permits use of ground water resources by volume,

permits new well construction etc.

Administrative Associations

for Water Supply and Sewage

Systems

ASADAs Local management and maintenance of water

supply and sanitary services.

26

4 METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This research is aiming to identify different solutions for water shortages in Nosara to sustain water

supply in times of water scarcity and in the future which leads to the following research question:

RQ: What could be, in times of water scarcity and in the future, solutions for the water

shortages in the district of Nosara, Guanacaste?

There are various sub-questions which help to answer the main question. To understand the

importance of problem and to know how local people think about the situation, the ASADA,

inhabitants of Nosara, (residential) tourists and owners of tourism facilities will be questioned first.

After that, other concerned institutions will be questioned to understand the relation between water

scarcity and tourism on governance level. All actors will finally be asked about possible solutions to

figure out useful solutions for the specific case of Nosara.

I. How does the local community, (residential) tourists, owners of tourism facilities and the

water supplier (ASADA) perceive the historical, current and future water shortages and how

do they deal with it?

II. What (policy) solutions do the actors see for the problem and how do their views differ?

III. To what extent are the effects of (residential) tourism included in the water policy and

management of Nosara and were there changes in water governance?

IV. What are useful (policy) solutions for water shortages and on which scale should solutions be

implemented?

OPERATIONALIZATION

Concepts

According to the UNESCO (2015), an area is experiencing water stress when annual water supplies

are lower than 1700 m³ per person. If annual water supplies come below 1000 m³ per person, the

population is facing water scarcity, and if it comes below 500 m³ per person there is an “absolute

scarcity”. In Costa Rica, the renewable internal freshwater resources is 24000 m³ per capita, which

implies that the country is not facing water stress (The World Bank, 2013). UN-Water defines water

scarcity as “the point at which the aggregate impact of all users impinges on the supply or quality of

water under prevailing institutional arrangements to the extent that the demand by all sectors

cannot be satisfied fully”. This is actually going on in Guanacaste and in particular the district of

27

Nosara. Therefore we operationalize water scarcity as the point at which the demand exceeds the

availability of water.

The “future” is mentioned in the main research question because recent water shortages are

likely to occur more frequently in the future when no sustainable measures are being taken. Climate

scientists expect that the region will experience less rainfall and more intense dry seasons due to

climate change. Particularly the region of Playa Guiones, Playa Pelada and Playas de Nosara are

facing pressures on water resources.

The “local communities” (referred to in sub-question 1) are native Costa Rican residents of

the district Nosara who live there permanently or on a long-term basis (at least 2 years). In the

results section, they are called “local residents”. Residential tourists will be considered as a separate

group. Residential tourism can be defined as “the mobility of relatively well-to-do citizens from

mostly western countries to a variety of tourist destinations, where they buy (or sometimes rent)

property” (van Noorloos, 2012). Those residential tourists have actually formed their own community

in Nosara. In the results section, respondents in this group are called “foreign resident”. The “tourism

industry” includes hotels, bed and breakfasts and similar accommodations plus real-estate projects

for (residential) tourists in the district Nosara. The “concerned institutions” are those who are related

to or have influence in the water problem of the Nosara area:

1. ASADAs: Aqueduct and Sewer Systems Management Associations

2. AyA: Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewage Systems

3. INDER: Institution for Rural Development

4. IMN: Meteorological Institute

5. MINAET: Ministry for the environment, energy and telecommunications

6. Nosara Civic Association (NCA) (residential tourists)

7. SENARA: National Service for Groundwater Irrigation and Drainage

8. ARESEP: The Regulating Authority for Public Services

The scale levels on which solutions have to be implemented are: local level (the district of Nosara),

regional level (the kanton Nicoya), provincial level (the province Guanacaste) or national level (the

country). Possible solutions for Nosara are defined in the next sub-paragraph.

Possible solutions

For the specific situation of Nosara, different possible solutions could be implemented for ensuring

water availability. First of all, new inclusive water management strategies are an option to reduce

water use or increase water availability. By implementing a demand side strategy, owners of

28

accommodations for tourists are perhaps not willing to reduce their water use of facilities for tourists

because of their own interests. Supply side management solutions are on the other hand quite

expensive options which could generate contradiction in governmental organisations. Those large-

scale solutions are solutions who have impact on many people, communities or districts. An example

for large-scale solutions within the water problems in the district of Nosara is the development of a

sewage plant that could save water by removing contaminants from wastewater. The water can

therefore be used multiple times. Such a large project will be expensive, for which it could be hard to

develop. Another solution which could be implemented in Nosara is rainwater collection which

provides an independent water supply during water shutoffs and shortages. Mainly in the rain season

from May till November, rain water could be harvested. In the dry season from December till April,

the collected rain water could be used. People might be in favour because only the technique to

harvest rainwater has to be paid for, and not the water itself. The last solution for now, which is also

perhaps an appropriate one for Nosara, is solar desalination. Because of the location of Nosara, near

to the coast, seawater desalination is logical. Besides, the sun is abundant the major part of the year.

However, to implement all those technical solutions, willingness to pay is an important part of an

appropriate solution for the region (see section 2.2.2.). Other solutions in the field of governance,

institutions and scale have also to be addressed and considered. Those non-technical solutions could

perhaps better fit in the situation of Nosara.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

The methodology of this research is mixed method based on qualitative and quantitative analyses.

Qualitative research can be defined as analysing subjective opinions of social constructions of issues,

experiences or usages by collecting non-standardized data (Flick, 2009). Quantitative analyses can be

defined as explaining situations by collecting numerical data that are analysed using mathematically

based methods (Aliaga & Gunderson, 2000). The first steps of this research are actually be based on

literature review of academic peer-reviewed articles and policy reports from NGO’s and companies.

The remaining part of data collection is derived from primary data through conducting surveys and

interviews in the field. Because of time constraints is decided to combine interviews with surveys.

The overall design of this research is a stakeholder analysis in which stakeholders are

identified by conducting interviews and surveys. The stakeholder analysis approach has been

developed as an answer on the challenge of multiple interests and objectives for the analysis and

formulation of development policy and practice. The purpose of a stakeholder analysis is gaining an

understanding of a system, and assessing the impact of changes to that system by identifying key

actors or stakeholders and determine their interests in the system. Stakeholders are groups of

29

people, organized or unorganized, who share a common interest in a particular issue or system

(Grimble & Wellard, 1997). The most fundamental separation between stakeholders is between

those who affect a decision, and those affected by this decision. Furthermore they can be

categorized according to their relative influence and importance. Stakeholder analysis is most

relevant in complex situation where there are problems with compatibility between objectives and

stakeholders, which fits perfectly to natural resource management situations. It is particularly

relevant to natural resource issues that are characterized by for example cross-cutting systems and

stakeholder interests as aquifers and watersheds, multiple uses and users of the resource and

subtractability (one person’s use of a resource diminishes others’ use) and temporal trade-offs which

refers to use of resources that may adversely affect future availability or production (Grimble &

Wellard, 1997). Therefore, a stakeholder analysis fits to the case of water problems in Nosara.

First of all, a few exploratory interviews are derived with several stakeholders to identify

everyone with a concern or interest in water in Nosara. Secondly, a larger amount of interviews and

surveys are conducted with all the actors. In total, 12 semi-structural interviews were conducted with

different stakeholders and 35 surveys of which 19 respondents were local residents and 16

respondents were foreign residents (see: Appedix 1 and Table 2). By doing this, the problem is

defined and described from different perspectives to get a comprehensive overview of the situation.

Furthermore, some possible solutions for the problem resulted from the interviews derived form

their own viewpoint. If it was hard for the respondent to come up with solutions, a short list with

suggestions for solutions was discussed. To make sure that respondents had enough room to give

answers on open questions in the survey, each question has sufficient space. When people lacked

writing skills, the survey was conducted as an interview in which the interviewer noted the answers.

Table 2 Stakeholders involved in this research

METHOD TYPE OF STAKEHOLDER QUANTITY

SURVEY Local Residents 19

Foreign Residents 16

INTERVIEW Board member of ASADA 4

Real-estate sector 2

Tourism sector 2

Nosara Civic Association 3

Nation Union of ASADAs 1

The first sampling method used in this research was a cluster sampling of inhabitants of the different

communities in the district of Nosara. Because of the difference in lifestyle and location of the local

30

residents and residential tourists, those two groups are separated. Within the different communities,

two different areas in the Nosara district were randomly chosen to avoid bias. The second sampling

method used in this research is convenience sampling for stakeholders of organisations. Because of

time constraints, it worked best to do interviews with respondents who were available and willing to

participate on that moment. Furthermore, snowball sampling had been a useful method to reach

other actors involved in the water problem.

LIMITATIONS AND ETHICAL ISSUES

There are some limitations and risks of this research that could have consequences for the results.

First of all the language barrier is a limitation of this research because the researcher is not a native

Spanish speaker. Despite the fact that most of the respondents were able to speak English, from

some interviews the researcher would probably have got more information if she was more fluent in

the local language, Spanish. Furthermore, a limitation of this research is that there was a delay in the

schedule which resulted in less conducted surveys and interviews with respondents than was aimed

beforehand. Therefore, some stakeholders in the field are not interviewed. Besides, the researcher

had no technical background in water science which made it difficult to understand complex

technical solutions when those were brought forward. The sample cannot be considered as

characteristic for all towns with tourism development, because of its specific composition of

residents and history that aimed sustainable residential tourism. The snowball-sampling method may

have caused bias, although it was always tried to as much as possible different perspectives. Another

constraint of this research is that during the surveys, time and willingness of each respondent to

answer all the questions variated from extensive to limited. This resulted in some cases in missing or

very compact answers.

By conducting field research in Nosara, the research process must ensure the participants’

dignity and privacy. Although the topic of the research is not specifically about personal experiences,

feelings or believes, respondents could bring forward opinions that could include sensitive

information. Participate to the research must not have negative implications for the participants.

Furthermore local needs or concerns have to be considered and knowledge and traditions of the

communities have to be respected during the research. As far as the researcher knows, none of the

respondents experienced negative consequences as result of participating in this research.

Furthermore, the findings of this research are shared with the stakeholders that participated.

31

EMPIRICAL CHAPTERS (5, 6, 7)

In this research is the main question: “What could be, in times of water scarcity and in the future,

solutions for the water shortages in the district of Nosara, Guanacaste?” Based on the four different

sub-questions will be discussed how different stakeholders think about the water situation. The

answers on the four different sub-questions will provide an answer to the central question.

The following three chapters will present findings on this research project about solutions for

water shortages in the district of Nosara. The findings are all based on results from interviews as well

as surveys with different actors in the field. The first chapter “Mapping the situation” contains an

explanation of the most important stakeholders in the debate, perspectives on the cause of the

water shortages, perspectives on the situation in the past and in the future and experiences with

living in this situation. Therefore it will give an answer on the first sub-question (“How does the local

community, (residential) tourists, owners of tourism facilities and the water supplier (ASADA) perceive

the historical, current and future water shortages and how do they deal with it?”). The second

chapter “The “Who” question” will give insight in perspectives on who the ones are that have to take

action in order to solve the water problem. Besides the third sub-question will be answered (“To

what extent are the effects of (residential) tourism included in the water policy and management of

Nosara and were there changes in water governance?”), and the fourth sub-question will be partly

answered in this chapter. The third chapter “Finding the solution” will show the different views on

possible solutions for the water shortage. Therefore it will give an answer on the second question

(“What (policy) solutions do the actors see for the problem and how do their views differ?”) and it will

complete the answer on the fourth research question (“What are useful (policy) solutions for water

shortages and on which scale should solutions be implemented?”).

32

5 MAPPING THE SITUATION

In this chapter is explained who the most important stakeholders are in the debate, if the

respondents know about the water shortages, what the situation in the past was like and how they

think it will be in the future, what in their opinion the cause of the water shortage is and if they think

knowledge about the problem is lacking. Furthermore is studied if the respondents experience

problems themselves, how they deal with it and if they actually take actions to improve the situation.

WHO’S IN?

Even though predicted is that more institutions were involved in the water problem of Nosara (as the

INDER, IMN, SENARA and ARESEP, those were not visible in the district and almost no-one of the

respondents mentioned one of these directly), found is that the following actors are the most

important:

ASADAs: An ASADA is a small-scale democratic community water association that independently

manage their own small water system in rural areas The ASADAs in Costa Rica serve 30% of the

national population with potable water. Members of communities that are interested in participating

apply to be associates of the ASADA (Babson Dobbin & Sarathy, 2015). The first responsibility of the

ASADA is to find, produce and deliver potable water. The second one is to manage wastewater, but

there is no sceptic system in Nosara for that at this moment. The ASADA works together with the

AyA, the NCA, Bandera Azul and ARESEP, but all the regulations are coming from the AyA and the

ministry above that, MINAET. As the respondent at the ASADA said: “The authority is in San Jose, the

AyA leads us”. There are seven different ASADAs in the district of Nosara, formed out of the

traditional communities (Fig 5).

Residents: There are two groups of residents that could be differentiated in Nosara. On the one hand

“local residents” that are born in Costa Rica and live there permanently or on a long-term basis (at

least 2 years). On the other hand “foreign residents” that came as residential tourists or emigrated to

Nosara. Generally, local residents live in simple typical Costa Rican houses while the majority of

foreign residents own relatively large and luxurious villas.

Real-estate developers: Although the “Nosara Project” started by one developer, nowadays multiple

real estate companies (mainly owned by foreign residents) sell lots and villas primarily situated in the

Guiones and Pelada sections. The real estate sector want to continue developing and usually doesn’t

see water as a problem because they think there is sufficient water in the ground.

33

Tourism sector: In only a few years, the tourism sector has grown tremendously in Nosara. The public

varies from surfers and people doing yoga to people mainly enjoying beach life and good food. In

only two years, the district got 20 new restaurants and even more hotels or other places to stay for

tourists. The popularity of the destination has grown also because of articles in leading magazines as

the New York Times (March 2, 2016, The New York Times). However, these articles and brochures of

real-estate obviously do not mention Nosara’s water problems.

Nosara Civic Association: Traditionally, the Nosara Civic Association (NCA) is organised by the first

foreign property owners in Nosara. The association calls itself an environmental institution that

promotes a sustainable future and collaboration between stakeholders in Nosara. The position of the

NCA is all about connecting different actors and their strategy focuses nowadays on zoning areas in

the district of Nosara. Secondly they focus on protecting their own land and solid waste

management. One of the current projects is about mapping the watersheds and make sure that they

are protected and reforested. Actually, until twelve years ago the NCA ruled the water before the

AyA decided that they didn’t permit anymore that the water was led by a private organization. After

that, the different ASADAs in Nosara were formed.

AyA: The AyA is the leading institution for the provision of water for human consumption in Costa

Rica. It manages the water legislation and execution. The AyA has outsourced their supply activities

to locally leaded ASADAs of small communities. If an ASADA does not have the capacity anymore, the

AyA should step in.

DOES EVERYBODY KNOW?

One of the reasons to conduct this research was because of the newspaper article of the end of

December which stated that Nosara was facing pressures on water resources due to the large

number of tourists visiting the region for the holiday season. To make sure that the water problem as

told in the article is well known among the residents, they were asked as first if they knew about the

situation. From the 47 different respondents of the surveys as well as the interviews, only two

residents (one foreign resident and one Costa Rican resident) stated that they didn’t know about the

situation. This is in line with the prediction that the majority should know that something is going on

with the water resources. Even more, in multiple sections of the district Nosara the water was shut

off by the ASADA during at least the evenings and nights. Actually, there have been days that the

water in the section of Playas de Nosara was off from 13.00 till 08.00. Furthermore, 77% of the

respondents from the surveys stated that they received water from the ASADA which shows that the

larger part is dependent from their water supply (Fig 4). Others indicated that they had access to a

private well. Because almost every ASADA had problems with supplying water 24 hours a day and the

34

majority has water from the ASADA, it can be concluded that people who use water from one of the

ASADAs should know about the situation.

Figure 3 Source of water of foreign residents and local residents

SITUATION IN THE PAST AND IN THE FUTURE

At the ASADA-board meeting (February, 2016) it is said that in the last two years around sixty new

construction projects have been executed in Playas de Nosara. These construction projects vary from

houses to hotels and restaurants or stores, but the most new buildings are quite luxurious. This has

led to an increase in water use of 35% every year from 23.000 m³ to 40.000 m³. Furthermore, in

Costa Rica water by law stated as public domain which means in practice that you may use as much

as you need (see: section 3.3) Actually in the Playas de Nosara-section (Fig 5) people use much more

water in their households than the local inhabitants do.

When asking what the water situation was like in the past, the majority of the residents

indicated that there was no or slightly a problem in the past and that the situation got worse in

mainly the last couple of years. The majority of the local residents mention in addition that it is since

the enormous growth of the population (Box 1).

35

According to a member of the ASADA board, only in March or April they lost the water for a few days

in the past. In his view, it was furthermore a type of lifestyle change: the houses changed to villas

with swimming pools requesting large amounts of water. Some residents mention that there was

always a little water problem, but that these concerns were periodic shortages, due to the seasons:

Water used to be turned off in April, now it’s being regulated from December on. If nothing is done,

we will have less water more people and poorer quality of water (Respondent 13, foreign resident). As

already mentioned by the above respondent, the majority of the residents is really concerned about

the future situation related to water. According to the larger part it will be a critical problem, in

which the situation will be worse unless people take action as changing their habits, regulating the

growth of development, improving infrastructure or do more conservation and resource planning.

One of the local residents is particularly concerned about proposals for getting more water from the

aquifer beneath the ground in Nosara. During the ASADA board-meeting of February 2016, one of

the board-members of Playas de Nosara announced their plans of digging more wells in the area.

They were starting a research in the near future to find the best location to construct one. However,

the latest new constructed well gives a disappointing amount of water, less than the old ones

produce. One of the local respondent predicts furthermore that the aquifer would most likely be

exploited which results in drier forests and therefore less rainfall while the demand for especially

tourism will continue to grow (Resident 18, local resident). Someone from the Nation Union of

ASADAs predicts that if they go on without having a national policy for the protection of the

watersheds, forest and water sources, the future will be very worrying. Another local resident points

out the probability of health problems in the future. A few of the residents is not that concerned

because they see more similarities: If it rains enough this year, there will be no shortage basing my

opinion in past experience of the years I’ve lived here. (Respondent 9, foreign resident).

Box 1 Population growth of Nosara

Population growth of Nosara

Everybody I spoke to in informal settings as well as in interviews mentioned the incredible fast

development of Nosara. The one after the other construction project is started, and new

restaurants opened their doors almost every single month of the past two years. While these new

constructions are mainly in the Playas de Nosara area, which is called by the locals as Proyecto

Americano, the surrounding local communities in the district are growing too. This is because the

construction projects, hotels and restaurants bring work which attracts people from all over Costa

Rica to live in Nosara. Actual numbers of growth are hard to find, a decent data recording system

is not available. The only source of information is the number of water meters, but this is not

reliable data because one new water meter could be used by one family or a hotel with 25 rooms.

36

EXPERIENCES WITH WATER SHORTAGES

The results of the survey amongst residents show that there are more people having problems with

water shortages than people without problems. There is slightly a difference between the foreign

and local community, because 62.5% of the foreign people face problems and 57.9% of the local

people indicate that they have problems (Table 5).

Table 3 Amount of people who indicated currently facing water problems

PROBLEMS FOREIGN RESIDENT LOCAL RESIDENT TOTAL

YES 10 (62.5%) 11 (57.9%) 21

NO 6 (37.5%) 8 (42.1%) 14

TOTAL 16 19 35

When controlling for a relationship between having problems with the water shortage and the

source of water it was found that there is a reasonably strong relationship between the type of water

source and perceiving problems, Cramers V = 0,45 (Table 6).

Table 4 Amount of people using different sources of water

WATER SOURCE FOREIGN RESIDENT LOCAL RESIDENT TOTAL

ASADA 12 (75.0%) 15 (78.9%) 27

PRIVATE WELL 2 (12.5%) 3 (15.8%) 5

ASADA AND PRIVATE

WELL

2 (12.5%) 1 (5.3%) 3

TOTAL 16 19 35

Almost all of the questioned residents (91.2%) indicated that they use less water than in the past

because they know the district of Nosara is currently facing water shortages. Only three people (one

foreign resident and two local people) stated that they do not. Residents use different methods to

deal with the water shortages, but the majority of the foreign residents say they storage water

through fill up tanks when water is available. Some even fill barrels for in the kitchen and shower.

The majority of local residents that have problems with water indicate that they fill buckets or

covered bins for when the water is cut off during the nights. No one of them noted that they make

use of tanks. Others buy bottled water to drink and accept that they don’t have water to cover other

needs. One of the local residents even mentioned that she deals with it by saving water:

37

“Yes, if I try to save as much as you can, wash once a week, almost not watering the plants and I try

to use only what is necessary. We shower with a bucket to save water” (Respondent 35, local

resident).1

THE CAUSE OF THE WATER SHORTAGES

There are a few different main causes that are frequently mentioned by the residents of the Nosara

district. First of all, indicated by all of the actors in this research are the changing natural

circumstances as El Niño, climate change, extended droughts and the limited amount of rain in the

rainy season of Costa Rica. As one of the respondents stated: “I believe that the main problem is the

drought. I think that there is not sufficient water out of rain to meet the actual demands of water”

(Respondent 18, local resident).2 These views are confirmed by decreasing numbers of total annual

rainfall the last years and the remarkably low amount of rain in 2015 (Table 3). The summer season

without rainfall that lasts from December to April is also the peak period for tourist coming to the

area which asks a higher amount of water than in the rainy season. But to prove climate change

more data on rainfall of the past is required. Unfortunately there is no other historical data from

Nosara since this numbers are collected by foreign resident who settled in Nosara twenty years ago.

Figure 4 Total annual rainfall in Nosara (mm) (Source: NCA, Bobbi Johnson).

Secondly the massive growth of the community is indicated by almost all the residents as one of the

main causes of the water shortages. Terms as “over development” in mainly the tourism and real-

estate sector are used to describe the expansion of Nosara and specifically the Playas de Nosara-

1 Original quote; “Si, trato de ahorrar lo más que pueda lavando una vez por semana, no riego casi las plantas y trado de usar solo lo necesario. Nos bañamos con un balde para ahorrar.” 2 Original quote: “Yo creo que el principal problema es la sequía. Creo que no hay suficiente agua de lluvias para satisfacen la actual demanda de agua.”

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

19

95

19

96

19

97

19

98

19

99

20

00

20

01

20

02

20

03

20

04

20

05

20

06

20

07

20

08

20

09

20

10

20

11

20

12

20

13

20

14

20

15

Total annual rainfall Nosara (mm)

38

section. Figure 4 shows the high concentration and enormous amount of lots and houses for sale in

one specific area, the section of Playas de Nosara, while there are spread over the rest of the district

only several lots or houses for sale. Furthermore, it is remarkable that only a few local residents

indicate specifically that the high amount of cutting trees for development is one of the main causes.

Also someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs stated that for many years the community of Nosara

has dedicated to the destruction of the forest and therefore the water is less every day (Box 2).

Figure 5 Lots and houses for sale or sold in the Nosara District (source: http://www.surfingnosara.com/nosara-real-estate)

Besides, “over usage” or “desperdicio de agua” through swimming pools, watering plants, watering

the streets to moisten the dust and high water use of tourists and hotels is mentioned to explain the

cause of the water shortage. In an interview, a foreign resident mentioned that: “The supply-demand

of water is out of balance, this type of travellers do not care about water issues”. The respondent

refers to tourists that have much to spend and they care about a luxurious lifestyle that requests a

high amount of water use. Thirdly, the poor infrastructure of the water system is stated by the

majority of all the respondents of this research. Also one of the real-estate developers in Nosara

indicates that there was no investment in the system which is the cause for the water shortages. The

water system is old and not suitable anymore for the high demand of water these days. Therefore

pipelines are frequently broken which results in leakages of water. Some local residents blame the

small number of wells for the water shortages. As one of them stated: “There are little wells and that

39

is not enough for the whole community” (Resident 20, local resident)3. One of the board members of

the ASADA of Playas de Nosara says that because of the phenomena El Niño, current wells are not

capable to produce the requested amount of water. In contradiction, he also mentioned that there is

a need for new wells and extra voluntary financing to pay for digging new wells. However, there is no

knowledge about the amount of water in the aquifer. Is there enough groundwater available to dig

more wells? It makes no sense to construct extra wells if there is simply not enough water in the

aquifer. This is besides a conflict of opinions in the community of Nosara because some say that they

are worried about the quantity of water in the ground, while mainly real estate developers think that

there is lots of water in the aquifer beneath Nosara. However, there is no information of studies to

the real state of the aquifer, everybody heard it somewhere from someone.

The fourth and fifth reason were raised in the interviews with different stakeholders and

stated as lack of collaboration and problems with funding solutions. At this moment there is no

collaboration between the ASADAs in Nosara (see section 7.2). The AyA does not allow ASADAs to

see opportunities of collaboration. According to someone from one of the ASADA boards, this is

because the AyA is afraid that such a large ASADA would have too much power in comparison to the

AyA. Besides, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the administration of these water systems. The

seven different ASADAs are formed traditionally out of seven little towns or neighbourhoods in

Nosara, situated close to the main road (Fig 5). They have no direct relation, except for the fact that

they use water out of the same aquifer. They have a very simple administrative structure in which 42

people in total work for free. Those people are residents of the community and do not need a

3 Original quote: “Hay pocos posos de agua y eso no alcanza para todo la comunidad.”

Land use change

When changing the way of how land is used, direct effect occur on hydrologic processes. This is

because of its link with the evapotranspiration regime and its enormous impact on the initiation

of the surface runoff. Evapotranspiration is the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from

the Earth's land and ocean surface to the atmosphere. Evaporation is described as the process of

a substance in a liquid state that changes to a gaseous state because of an increase in

temperature. Precipitation is the primary source of groundwater and the conversion of forests to

agricultural lands or urban development’s leads to reduce the evapotranspiration. This means

that the ground takes up less water which in turn results in less evapotranspiration that in the end

leads to less rain. This vicious cycle therefore strengthens itself. Even more, when the soil has a

low infiltration rate, a considerable amount of precipitation flows directly in to the rivers without

contributing to the recharge of the aquifer (Ranjan, Priyantha, Kazama, So & Sawamoto,2006).

Box 2 Land use change

40

background in the field of water or management. Therefore everybody can apply for a seat in the

water board of an ASADA. Although in the smallest ASADAs people stay in the water board for a

couple of years, there should be a new board every two years (Table 4). Except for the water board

of Playas de Nosara that is formed by almost all foreign residents; they are more professionally

organized, but even don’t have specifically educated or trained board members. Every water board

comes together occasionally depending on the size of the ASADA. The ASADA of Playas de Nosara

even has a number of permanent employees that work full-time in the office, while the smallest

ASADAS only meet once in a while. The water boards are chosen by a voting system in which the

most popular people get a seat in the new water board. Every water meter is one vote, so someone

who owns twenty buildings with twenty different water meters has twenty votes. In this way, not

particularly the people with the most knowledge or experience in the field are chosen, but the

people who are most popular or have strategic interest for the voter. However, in smaller ASADAs

that are led by local residents, the voting system is less competitive and imaginably is that there are

less people willing to take place in the water board because of diverse reasons as lack of interest,

time or importance of the topic. The different actors using water from the Playas de Nosara ASADA

have stronger contrasting interests than in the other ASADAs, where users are mainly households.

Table 5 Number of Users of Nosara’s ASADAs

According to the someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs there is also little collaboration between

the AyA and the ASADAs. Besides he indicated the fact that:

“About 12.000 men and women work without a salary to provide water to 26% of the population of

Costa Rica, which saves the country about 50 billion colones every year “.

As also indicated by a Dutch resident of Nosara is that funding, guidance, organization and a proper

network lacks to regulate a functioning water system. Furthermore, the ASADA is losing money by

every single m³ water that is used, even though 86% of the users of water from ASADA Playas de

LOCATION NUMBER OF USERS

1 NOSARA AND ARENALES 650

2 LAS DELICIAS 90

3 SANTA MARTA 83

4 ESPERANZA 125

5 SANTA TERESITA 120

6 GUIONES AND PELADA 550

7 GARZA 85

41

Nosara pay voluntary commitment. This is because the water rate is very low and the maintenance

costs are very high because of the old infrastructure of the water system. Overall, frequently

mentioned by local residents is that mismanagement of the resource is one of the causes of the

water shortages in Nosara. One of the examples of this has to do with illegal wells. The Dutch

embassy mentioned that illegal wells are a nation-wide problem because there is no view on the

quantity of water that is used. There is supposed to be a control on that, but there is insufficient

capacity. A respondent of the NCA also brought up that problem: “Lots of people have illegal wells, so

numbers are underestimated of non-registered wells.”

Figure 6 Map of Nosara District (source: Ministerio de Hacienda Direccíon General de Tributación)

Figure 6 shows that the different stated causes have various underlying causes which in turn are

result of other elements. Changing natural circumstances is caused by climate change and El Niño.

The extensive use of water is a result of community growth and deforestation is caused by land use

change, while these both could be derived of the increasing tourism sector in Nosara. Poor

infrastructure of the water system is a result of lack of investments and mismanagement, and no

collaboration has as underlying cause mismanagement as well. Both of these underlying causes do in

42

turn result of lack of knowledge and experience of the managers of the water system. This means

that there is a connection between all the given causes during the interviews and surveys.

Figure 7 Causes of the water shortages

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE

According to a respondent of the ASADA of Playas de Nosara, knowledge is lacking about water

resources and salt water intrusion of which in the near future studies have to be done. Furthermore

several respondents indicate that an engineer should come to Nosara for conducting a study to the

water resources in the area, because lack of knowledge is seen as a big part of the problem. Also the

NCA sees the lack of knowledge as a part of the problem: “The ASADA and AyA must made decisions

on base of studies of how much water there is. There must be clear knowledge of the status of the

watershed. The first step is researching and data. If the ASADA has data, they could start talking with

the AyA.” However, someone from the real-estate sector actually thinks different about the lack of

knowledge and states that there is no knowledge lacking but the communication is about the water

situation. As explained in the last paragraph as well, there are different stories about the quantity of

water in the aquifer beneath Nosara, but no one is able to tell which one is true. This respondent

means that communication about practices of how to save water is missing, while you could reach a

lot with sufficient communication about the water situation. When asking people about who is

providing them knowledge about the water situation as for example information about how to deal

with the problem and what prospects are, the majority answered the ASADA. The ASADA of Playas

43

de Nosara provides information through Facebook, which reaches a big part of the community. Other

sources of information that are mentioned are via the community, local newspaper articles, common

sense or “Mother Nature”.

6 THE “WHO” QUESTION

In this chapter will be explained how the respondents think about responsibility, who should

implement the solutions and on which scale. Furthermore will be discussed if there were changes in

water governance since the development of the “American Project” and the tourism sector in

Nosara.

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR FIXING OF THE PROBLEM?

The opinions about who is responsible for fixing the problems are divided. When looking at the

actors responsible according to the answers in the surveys, 71% of the respondents state that the

ASADA is responsible, before the AyA (57%) and the residents (60%). It was possible to choose more

options than one, remarkable is that 24% of the respondents choose “All actors”.

Figure 8 Percentages of actors responsible for fixing the water problem

As an explanation for choosing all actors as responsible is given that the residents spill the water and

should be more careful, but that the government organizations should have more control over the

situation and rating of water. Moreover, the ASADA is first in line because they distribute the water.

Also during the interviews all of the respondents mention at first the ASADA as the coordinator of

initiatives and secondly the community, as one of the ASADA board members stated: “ASADA is

responsible for organizing the fixing, but people in this town have to pay for their own infrastructure”.

Some local residents choose AyA above the ASADA because they think that the volunteers working in

an ASADA are not trained to supply as many people as there are now. Others say that every person

should be aware and pass on information and all should collaborate in the situation for preventing

that water shortages will continue.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

ASADA AyA Residents MINAET Other

N=33

Who is responsible?

44

WHO CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

No less than 60% of the questioned residents indicate that they think they are not able to make a

difference in the debate about the water situation, against 40% of the residents that think they can

use their position. When controlling for the origin of the respondents, is found that there are no

remarkable differences. Foreign residents who answered “No” were not able to explain why, while

some who answered “Yes” indicated that everyone can participate in the debate by for example

raising awareness and communicate about the problem. Local residents who answered “No” stated

that they had no sufficient information or influence to make a difference and that it must be

addressed by political leaders and members of the ASADAs. Local residents who answered “Yes”

indicated that they could give their opinions in meetings or teaching younger generations to take

care of natural resources. Someone from the real-estate sector indicated that in his position he could

contribute with financial resources: “I could make a difference by giving support and doing

donations”. The actor that should make the difference according to her duties is the AyA. While

ASADAs feel the pressure to find solutions for the water problem themselves, the AyA should

intervene in case of problems (see section 5.1 and 6.3).

WHO SHOULD IMPLEMENT SOLUTIONS?

The opinions about who should implement possible solutions (see chapter: 7) are not highly divided.

When looking at the combinations of actors according to the answers in the surveys, 84% of the

respondents chose for the ASADA, 74% selected the AyA and 65% chose for residents. Remarkable is

that 29% of the respondents selected “All actors” as the ones who should implement solutions.

Figure 9 Percentages of actors who should implement solutions.

As an explanation for choosing all the actors, one of the foreign residents indicates that: “These

issues needs to be addressed dynamically with all. It’s a local community, country and global issue.”

Despite that this statement is broad, this is also stated by local residents who frequently give the

reason that it is necessary to work together for implementing solutions. If all actors exert pressure,

there might be achieved something (Resident 24, local resident). Another explanation is that the

0%

50%

100%

ASADA AyA Residents MINAET

N=31

Who should implement solutions?

45

whole province Guanacaste faces water problems, which means that the best solutions should be

implemented by provincial wide operating actors. Others that choose the ASADA and AyA give

explanations like: “The ASADA needs to ensure adequate wells, tanks, pipes and the AyA & Costa Rica

need to authority the necessary fee structure.” One of the local residents indicated that better

management of the aquifers should be done by the ASADAS while another mentioned that the AyA

should implement solutions because of their experience. The next question is who is going to pay,

this is examined in section 6.6.

WHICH SCALE?

According to the most respondents of the survey (51.4%) solutions should be implemented on

national level. After that implementing solutions on provincial level (42.9%) and on the district of

Nosara (34.3%) are the most chosen options (Fig 5). This is probably due to the fact that the water

problem is not only in the district of Nosara but in the whole province of Guanacaste. Furthermore,

decision-making is highly concentrated in the central government of Costa Rica, which could have

resulted in that respondents chose for the national level (more in chapter: 8).

Figure 10 Percentages of on which scale solutions should be implemented

CHANGES IN WATER GOVERNANCE

To what extend are the effects of (residential) tourism included in the water policy and management

of Nosara and were there changes in water governance? With the enormous growth of (residential)

tourism in Nosara, it would be logical that new policies are implemented to protect the environment.

However, according to the ASADA of Playas de Nosara, effects of tourism are not included in the

water policy or in the local policies of the district Nosara. This is because Nosara doesn’t have their

own municipality with local regulations. As a resident from Nosara said about the policy: “All the

taxes are going to Nicoya… Nosara is as “the goose that laid the golden eggs”, there is a lot of money

circulating.” As stated before, human consumption of water is regulated by law and even hotels

0,00%

10,00%

20,00%

30,00%

40,00%

50,00%

60,00%

Costa Rica Province Guanacaste Kanton Nicoya District Nosara

N=35

Scale

46

don’t have a limit of water use in Costa Rica. There were no changes in water governance yet, but the

AyA has sent a consultant who is trying to get the seven ASADAs in the district of Nosara to

collaborate on water issues. However, some people from the ASADAs itself are sceptical about the

intentions from the AyA. They think that the AyA wants to prevent that the ASADAs in Nosara

collaborate because of competition issues. One of the local implemented policies by the ASADAs that

exists related to effects of tourism is the impact fee that people who build new houses have to pay.

For new connections to the existing water system should be paid an additional fee that is used to

improve and enlarge the system. Normally the ARESEP, the government institution that determines

the water rates, does not change rates, but this impact fee is approved. The problem with this impact

fee is according to a member of the ASADA that: “former low impact houses are having now high

impacts because they turned into rental houses, while the impact fee is only on new constructions”.

Furthermore, this fee is not mandatory which results in that some new residents simply do not pay

this fee to the ASADA. A solution could be to introduce impacts fees for houses that change their

land use plan, but there is no zoning in Nosara. This makes it hard to define when someone changes

their way to use the land. According to the NCA, their strategy is to focus on zoning the area of

Nosara. Each part has to create a zoning plan: “Plan regulador” which contains for example the type

of soil and footprints. But also the NCA has as an environmental institution no power itself,

conforming to them, only the government has the ability to set the rules. As a member of the ASADA

stated: “We should find a super creative way within the law because the laws on this area are the

problem in Costa Rica.” Because of the absence of strong regional zoning and legislation to control

the massive development of tourism and real-estate areas, roads, houses and hotels are being

constructed on marginal lands that were earlier abandoned. Therefore it is important that legislation

and zoning plans are established for non-agricultural land as tourism and real-estate investments in

rural areas as Nosara (Calvo-Alvarado, McLennan, Sánchez-Azofeifa & Garvin, 2008).

WHO IS GOING TO PAY?

Several years ago, a slogan has been used in Costa Rica that said “the polluter pays”. However, until

now that was never the case according to someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs. A few of the local

residents mentioned investments by the government as one of the solutions. They think there should

be put more pressure on the government for new wells. One of the board members of the Playas de

Nosara ASADA is sceptical about it and stated that the government doesn’t have the resources. As a

solution for the fact that there is no funding from the government, some people indicate that

fundraising event for water projects could be an option. Remarkable is that a respondent from the

ASADA in Garza first mentions that foreign organizations should pay because the government

47

wouldn’t do it. According to one of the board members of Playas de Nosara, the water users should

invest in the future or rates should be differentiated. This solution in mentioned several times by

other actors during the interviews. However, the ASADAs of the district of Nosara are not allowed to

differentiate the rates themselves. The ARESEP is the only institution that makes decisions on water

rates. On national scale a number of financing agreements are made with water users in the business

sector as bottlers, large irrigation water users and hotels in order to let them pay for the

conservation of watersheds. Besides, the country revised its water tariff in 2005 and introduced a

conservation fee (Pagiola, 2008). In fact, differentiated rates of water already exist. The different

categories of users are: domestic consumption, industrial use, commercial use, tourism, agro-

industrial, agriculture, aquaculture and hydropower. When receiving water from aquifers, the rate is

higher than from surface water. Industrial, commercial and tourism use are higher than for domestic,

agro-industrial or agriculture use (GWP, 2005). However, the different ASADAs in Nosara have only

one determined rate for every use because it is seen as rural community.

48

7 FINDING SOLUTIONS

In this chapter will be analysed which solutions the different respondents gave for the water

shortages in Nosara. Both technical as well as policy solutions will be considered. Furthermore this

chapter gives an insight in why different solutions are not implemented yet and what explains the

opinion of people.

TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

The majority of the interviewed respondents and the ones that filled in the survey indicated that on

the short term you could think of solutions as new wells and improving the old infrastructure of

pipelines. As a foreign resident mentioned: “The pipelines are 30 years old, they lose water from the

well to the tank, to pipe, to house.” One of the local residents came up with lower the water pressure

at certain times of the day, which is already carried out by the ASADA of Garza. Other frequently

given solutions of interviewed actors are small-scale waste water treatment plants or desalinization

plants. By new development of houses could the concept of building “smart homes” make a

difference in the water situation. By switching to more efficient appliances and maintaining

household water-using devices you could achieve water savings. Examples are irrigation systems and

indoor water efficiency tools for the bathroom or kitchen, but also especially relevant for Nosara are

tools for saving water through pool management. Hotels could take actions themselves to contribute

to solutions for the water shortage, as explained by the sustainability manager from the Harmony

Hotel: “In our garden we make use of drip irrigation with recycled grey water from our showers (Fig

4), furthermore our gardeners get education about for example using native trees, we use harvested

rainwater for rooms of the staff and our sanitary services are equipped with water saving toilets and

showers.” There is actually more considered about solutions regarding policies and changing habits

of residents which will be discussed in the next two sub-sections.

POLICY SOLUTIONS

A range of solutions on policy level is mentioned by as well residents in the surveys as other actors

during interviews. First of all, collaboration is according to most of the respondents a key to a

solution for the water problem. Some local residents stated that also on community level people

should work together or with the ASADA and AyA on what is possible. Although there is no

connection of pipelines, water wastage in the area of one ASADA could affect the situation in the

area of another ASADA. At this moment the ASADAs do not work together because there was no

need for collaboration considering there were almost no water problems in the past. This affects the

49

efficiency of the system now, because on a surface of only 135 km², combine forces could be one of

the first steps forward. One of the respondents of the ASADA of Playa de Nosara mentioned for

example that there are benefits in collaborate more with other ASADAs to jointly purchase new

tubes or to share information. According to him, more collaboration in the form of assistance by

engineers from the AyA would also be very helpful. By all means there is need for a more political

and technical assistance by for example professionals who did studies in that specific field. One of

the local residents indicated that Emergencia Nacional declared to have funds and projects to realize

studies to see what happens with the aquifers. Furthermore MINAET, AyA and ASADA proposed that

they are going to carry out a project after having the results of another investigation about

possibilities to collaborate on water (Resident 33, local resident). According to someone of the

Nation Union of ASADAs, the ASADAs should collaborate more if they had the economic resources.

There are actually also doubts concerning collaboration of specifically the seven ASADAs in Nosara.

As a foreign resident stated: “When connecting this ASADA (Playas de Nosara) to others in the region,

you accept also their issues.” There are for example large differences between the ASADAs in Nosara

in terms of administration. While for example residents of the one of Playas de Nosara could pay via

online banking, is it only possible to pay in Esperanza when someone is there to collect the money.

One of the other frequently mentioned solutions is education about water use and saving water for

(younger) residents as well as tourists and house owners to preserve the water resources. Even for

this, collaboration between institutions is necessary.

One of the respondents indicated that there first have to be a proper record system for

measuring the water use. After that the respondent stated: “The second step is to solve issues by

taking the boards together and talk about how to reach sustainable community planning. Step three

is to have strategic planning for issues and a conflict of interest policy.”

Another given solution by some of the respondents is to slow down or temporarily stop

providing building permits and limit development until something is done about the water shortage.

This kind of protection for the aquifer is already applied in some parts of San José. However, this

solution is directly opposed to the opinion of real-estate developers. A related solution is that if you

start building on properties you have to pay a certain amount for repairing the system. There already

exists an impact fee, but there are some disadvantages such as its non-mandatory status (see section

6.5). In this field real-estate developers agree, as one of them said: “Only new ones have to pay for

the infrastructure, old ones not. And then you still have the option to ask existing residents to pay.”

Some of the local residents mentioned more regulations on water use as regulating the size

of water tanks of hotels and houses, reforestation and more protected areas as solutions for the

water shortages. These solutions were not mentioned by the foreign residents. In line with this,

someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs states that officials of institutions have to implement the

50

laws that protect the forests and the water sources. However, then first corruption should be

eliminated because those officials are frequently being bribed by developers and big investors. These

last mentioned statements are quite wide and not easily solvable. Political corruption is one of the

barriers that could be collectively overcome by recognizing and locating them (Kuzdas & Wiek, 2014).

For the district of Nosara are more realistic solutions needed that are suitable to implement quickly.

A last given solution is for some residents to increase rates of water because according to

many respondents the water is very low priced. Before the ASASA regulated the water, the NCA

charged $50 per month. After that, the priced dropped to Costa Rican rates of $5 per month.

Therefore the ASADA of Playas de Nosara asks their residents to pay a voluntary fee. The mainly

foreign users of this ASADA could afford it, but in other ASADAs there is not such an extra fee. Not

everybody is willing to pay a higher rate for the water. Actually, expected was that the majority of

the local Costa Ricans wouldn’t pay more for water, but the survey results show that 83,3% of them

are willing to pay more for water in order to solve water problems. This is comparable with the

amount of foreign people that are willing to pay more which is 81.3%. Foreign respondents who

answered no gave reasons as: “Only the ones who abuse need to pay more” (Respondent 4, foreign

resident) or “No, this must be solved by the government” (Respondent 9, foreign resident). When

local residents answered that they were not willing to pay more, they said that water is a free

resource that belongs to everyone and should be especially affordable for lower income people.

Multiple local residents who answered “yes” are actually only willing to pay more if it is guaranteed

that it is the best solution with a good service or under the condition that it is really necessary and

fair. However, rates for water are nation-wide determined by the ARESEP. The municipality, AyA or

ASADA is not allowed to change those rates by themselves.

Rising voluntary fees could be a solution for this disagreement, because additional fees for

people who go above their limit of water use is technically not possible on local level due to

regulated prices by the government. The ARESEP could introduce differentiated rates which could be

applied in Nosara. Higher fees when people use more is actually a frequently mentioned solution by

all the different respondents questioned. As someone stated: “AyA needs to rethink its pricing

structure to allow the ASADAs to charge varied rates depending on usage to discourage over use.”

(Respondent 16, foreign resident).

51

CONTRIBUTE ON PERSONAL LEVEL

“The whole community has to commit to making changes” (Respondent 15, foreign resident).

Because the respondents indicated that the community itself is responsible too, they gave some

options what they could do themselves. Using less water is obviously the first most mentioned

solution by the respondents. After that a frequently mentioned action is teaching gardeners and

customers or guests to be careful with using water. Furthermore, multiple respondents highlight the

importance of education and information for new comers in the community and tourists about the

water problems. The majority of the local people mention more water saving methods on household

level as taking shorter showers, washing clothes less frequently, collect water from the rain in

buckets and change pipes that are in poor condition. Explain to others that people should act

responsible with water is also one of the multiple times stated actions that people themselves can

do. Besides, “Utiliza solamente lo necesario”, using only the necessary amount is an often highlighted

option. Although these solutions are feasible for everyone, the next solutions on household level will

likely be more applicable for foreign residents. Technical options as creating water recycling systems,

rainwater harvesting (Fig 5) and water saving systems for swimming pools were raised in the

interviews but are quite expensive and more complicated. One of the respondents who already does

a lot of rainwater harvesting mentioned more technical solutions: “Storage, land management

issues, storm management...Now water flows directly into the ocean. If people have a rainwater

system, there will be less impact on the ASADA.”

Figure 11 Grey-water recycling at the Harmony Hotel (left) and rainwater harvesting (right)

52

CONSTRAINTS ON SOLUTIONS

The majority of the respondents say that it is hard to work with the AyA because of their stubborn

attitude and inflexibility which causes difficulties when inducing movements: “People should work

together, mainly in the case of waste and water… The AyA is inflexible, they worsen the situation and

the rates are not sufficient.” Furthermore one of the respondents raised that there should be a

better coordination. According to a respondent of the ASADA, large scale-solutions should be done

by the AyA. When speaking about solutions as small-scale waste water treatment plants respondents

think that this kind of solutions will fit not in the budget of the ASADA or is affordable. This is the

same case on household level. Where foreign residents could possibly afford rainwater systems, local

residents cannot afford that. Furthermore, when charging the true cost of services for water to users,

it would increase around 50% in cost of potable water for rural areas (Bower, 2014).

While some residents indicate that the government should take action in order to solve the

water problem, someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs thinks that it would be hard to implement

solutions with support from the government. He mentioned that in there is no institution of the state

in Costa Rica that is really interested in protection because “the extraction of water is the only thing

that is done”. He indicated that there exist individual initiatives, but they are little productive and the

driving force is always the civil society or some NGOs. This opinion is quite strong, because there are

a lot of governmental institutions that have the duty to protect the environment, but in practice that

responsibility is not always carried out.

Another constraint is that some people who work for the government are possibly corrupt,

and the authorities that are responsible for the water theme are mostly in that part according to one

of the actors. Solutions are not implemented yet because there is no political will in the country. In

the opinion of someone of the Union of ASADAs, the politics will not allow to find solutions until the

ASADAs are being united and can collaborate. Furthermore collaboration between the AyA and the

ASADAs is difficult because the AyA does not have enough financial, technical and human resources

to carry out required activities. There are for example only three geologists and one hydrologist to

monitor national well drilling in the country (Bower, 2014). However, another reason is according to

one of the actors that through the years some corrupt officials have been responsible for creating a

bad relationship together. This is in line with a respondent from the ASADA in Playas de Nosara who

stated the AyA is not supporting any collaboration. The ASADAs in Nosara have not collaborated yet

as well, but there is a willingness amongst the seven different ones. A respondent from the ASADA in

Nosara highlights that the problem is that there exists a gap between the local and foreign

community. According to him there is no political or social understanding or relation between them,

which results in the question how solutions for water problems can be connected (Box 3).

53

Furthermore, a regularly mentioned phenomenon is that several residents are afraid that

when the drought is over and the rainy season starts again, the problem and awareness is gone until

the next dry season. The problem does nog exist (yet) in the rainy season, because the rain raises the

level of the aquifer again and less tourists come to the area which means a lower water consumption

than in the dry season.

Box 3 The gap between local and foreign residents

EXPLAINING VIEWPOINTS

As someone from the real-estate sector said: “Simple and affordable solutions are the best”.

Remarkable is that local residents point out more causes and solutions related to the natural

environment than foreign residents do. This is possibly due to that the Costa Rican nature is

traditionally part of their living environment and they are raised with knowledge of the nature. It

could be that foreign residents who are raised in the city therefore do not think of causes and

solutions related to the natural environment. Many foreign residents mentioned in informal

conversations that they came from cities as New York or major cities in the West-Coast. Another

reason could be that local residents saw the changes in their environment themselves, as

deforestation, while the new foreign residents only know the place as it is now.

Also local residents mentioned that there should be more regulations on water use as

regulating the size of water tanks of hotels and houses. In the dry season, hotels and houses fill up

enormous tanks every morning when the water is available again. The consequence is that

sometimes the water is already cut off after a few hours, while the majority of local residents don’t

have large tanks. As one of the local residents explains:

The gap between local and foreign residents

The general tendency in the district of Nosara is that local residents blame the water problems

on the foreign residents. All local residents mention that since the enormous growth of the

(foreign) population, water shortages occur. The difference in lifestyle and income between

those two groups of residents is large. While most of the foreign residents own luxurious houses

with swimming pools and green lawns that requires a large amount of water, do local residents

live in more simple houses and use only water for subsistence. Therefore, frequently is told in

informal conversations that “gringos” should solve the problems they caused. Besides, the most

foreign residents could afford it to purchase measures to storage water, while local residents do

not have these resources. Furthermore, because of these differences and the general feeling that

“they” are the problem, collaboration could be quite hard.

54

“There must be education campaigns on the use and regulations that do not allow the

disproportional use of water. There are houses with reserve tanks and pools that receive absurd

amounts of water compared to families that cannot collect. Water is running out because it is a

limited amount per day for the whole community” (Respondent 18, local resident).4

4 Original quote: Deben de haber campañas de educación sobre el uso y normativas que no permitan el des uso o la desproporcion. Hay casas con tanques de reserve y piscinas que reciben cantidades absurdas de agua en comparación con familias que no pueden recoger. El agua se acuba porque es una cantidad limitada por dia para toda la comunidad.

55

8 DISCUSSION

Bower (2014) describes six inadequacies of the water supply system of Costa Rica. In this research

specified on Nosara are found the same shortages of the system. First of all, that laws exist but are

not always implemented is seen in the absence of protecting of the watershed. The second

shortcoming, that there is little incentive for customers to conserve water was clearly visible when

you know that fees remain the same by using inacceptable amounts of water. Thirdly, Bower (2014)

states that there is overlap of duties between different government agencies and local agencies do

not always cooperate. Cooperation between the ASADAs in Nosara is not implemented yet, and

institutions point at each other with regard to duties. As fourth is mentioned the uncertainty about

water availability because of the knowledge gap about water use and quantities. In the situation of

Nosara, this gap exists as well because there were no researches conducted to the levels of the

aquifer in the recent past. The fifth shortcoming is the lack of financial support for the water supply

system. There is not enough money for supporting existing infrastructure or investing in

improvements or future infrastructure. Several respondents mentioned the lack of financial

resources in Nosara as one of the causes of the water problem. Finally, Costa Rica knows that the

current water law is outdated. There is a proposal for a new Water Law, but it is not adopted yet. In

this research, one other additional inadequacies were found. The land use plan should be revised,

because every user pays the same rate in Nosara because it is typified as rural area, while there are

large differences in quantity used for various purposes.

The data from the surveys bring forward that most residents believe that solutions for the

water problems in Nosara should be implemented on national level, possibly because there is a

general tendency that “the government” should solve all problems of the country as a result of the

highly centralized political system of Costa Rica. However, found is in another study that there was a

widespread decline of people’s trust in public institutions. Mainly the system of justice and those

entities that provide public services. Furthermore, people in Costa Rica are sceptical about

decentralization. This is probably due to the fact that Costa Rica is a democracy that has a

presidential system in which decision-making is highly concentrated in the central government.

However, the state has a decentralized sector which includes the main entities that provide services

as water. During the twentieth century, municipalities lost functions to the central government but

those decentralized institutions were created in the 1949 Constitution. By creating those entities

belonging to the central government that provide government services such as the provision of

potable water, the role of municipalities in the provision of goods and services reduced even more

(Vargas-Cullell, Rosero-Bixby & Seligson, 2006). The highly centralized government prevents that

56

local institutions could make decisions on environmental issues (Bower, 2014). Centralisation of

water governance can be discussed because of questions regarding the basis of the state and its

willingness to promote the welfare of people within it. Furthermore, it is possible that it lacks broad

involvement of stakeholder groups at different levels (Pahl-Wostl, Gupta & Petry, 2008). Whereas

globalization processes and climate change ask for broad governance units, modes of governance

such as decentralization or citizen participation demand smaller spatial units of water governance

(Moss & Newig, 2010). Because of the specific situation of Nosara with pressing local natural

circumstances combined with a national phenomenon of an increasing tourism sector, a polycentric

system of water governance should be effective and legitimate. While laws should be implemented

and funding should be regulated on national level, on local level the ASADAs should be apparently

given more room for local decisions regarding research, collaboration, and implementing solutions.

Although the desire of the ASADA of Playas de Nosara to be more independent in taking

decisions, water management could not be completely decentralized. The management of water

requires specific investments in infrastructure and technical expertise and water is a non-

substitutable resource. The framework that the Costa Rican government has with the ASADAs to

manage the water is based on co-management that attempts to expand water coverage by

combining bottom-up community based management with the top-down regulatory power of the

state. However decentralized water management as this still depends on continued government

involvement, while support for the water system in Nosara is missing. There should be technical and

managerial support, trainings and other forms of expert assistance (Babson Dobbin & Sarathy, 2015).

The common pool resources theory, that states that all humanly used resources are

embedded in social-ecological systems is very relevant for the case of Nosara. According to this

theory, a resource would collapse when the resource harvesters are diverse, do not communicate

and do not have decent rules and norms for managing the resource. In the district of Nosara there

are various interests regarding water use. While some residents only use water for maintaining their

households and other residents are very concerned about protecting the environment, there are also

real-estate companies that need enormous large amounts of water for building new properties which

makes the resource harvesters diverse. There is no collaboration between the different ASADAs in

the Nosara District and with the AyA, therefore communication lacks as well. Besides, not everybody

communicates to their employees or guests to use less water. Furthermore, there are no restrictions

for using extensive amounts of water, so norms for managing the resource are lacking. This all

together could result in a collapse of the water supply system. The social-ecological systems theory

also explains that resource users could self-organize to maintain their resources sustainable. While

the residents in Nosara could not decide everything by themselves because of policy restrictions

from governmental institutions, they could collaborate and initiate a more sustainable management

57

of water. Important is that it only works under the condition that users observe some scarcity, and

that is exactly what some residents are afraid of: when the rain starts, the water is back and

problems are temporary gone.

The approach of political ecology fits well to the situation of Nosara. It has emerged for

analysing human-environmental interactions when they are associated with economic development.

The fast development of Nosara required large amounts of water that is extracted out of the aquifer

beneath the district. And as explained by this theory, the interface between human activities and the

environment are emerged by human-shaped biogeophysical factors and flows as groundwater

extraction (Zimmerer, 2000). Water problems in Nosara arise when pumping ground water exceeds

the natural recharge capacity of the aquifer due to the lack of rain in the dry season, which is

explained by the approach as well. Especially human impoverishment and environmental destruction

are important for the political ecology approach, which is apparent from the depletion of the aquifer

through high demands and the limited access to water for a large part of the community. The theory

states that the vulnerability and lack of power of local people often results in that they receive an

unequal part for environmental decline. Important is that local residents in Nosara experience water

problems not as result of their own extensive use. Besides, they cannot afford large tanks to storage

water for times of water shut-offs. Linkages among various social actors and social conflicts between

stakeholders over control of local resources are also part of the political ecology approach. The ways

in which international forces and the state affect actions of local people on the environment are

important in this field (Stonich, 1998). The occurring of social conflicts is not yet in line with the case

of Nosara, probably because the problem is there since a short period. However, in the future social

conflicts as in the case of Sardinal, another town in Guanacaste where a water conflict emerged

because of fast tourism growth, could arise when there are no solutions implemented. The

difference between the case of Nosara and that of Sardinal is that communities surrounding Sardinal

already experienced dry wells and were concerned about future water supplies, while residents in

Nosara did not have any water problems in the past. Furthermore, the community of Sardinal was

afraid that they would lack benefits of tourism development while many residents of Nosara do jobs

related to the tourism sector or because of tourism development (van Noorloos, 2012). This is

probably due to the inland location of Sardinal, while Nosara is closer to the main area of tourism

development on the coast.

Community-based natural resource management is based on the idea that if development

and conservation could be achieved at the same time, then the interests of both could be served. The

district of Nosara is running against the same challenge. As explained by the community-based

resource management theory, involving the community actively into the management process can

help managing complex systems of resources as water. Experiencing, access to and control over the

58

use of a natural resource is central to reach conservation of this resource. The system of water

supply in Nosara is already led by the community through ASADAs. Although water is one of the

natural resources that is protected most in community-based conservation projects, the conservation

of the watershed of Nosara should be improved to reach a sustainable situation. As explained by the

theory; if the whole community is aware of the importance of conserving water, the complex

resource system could be managed better and the source of water can be recovered more quickly.

Community-based water management is most effective with assistance from scientists and experts,

but only if they invest time and energy to establish a relationship and mutual cooperation with

members of a local community (Rhoads et. al., 1999). However, assistance from scientist and experts

is rare in Nosara, so more support should help the community manage the water situation.

The current research is conducted in a very specific situation where already for many years a

foreign community lived that tried to protect and sustain the environment around them. Therefore it

is hard to compare the results of this research with other cases of water shortages due to rapid

increase of (residential) tourism. Besides, typical (residential) tourism destinations often have golf

courses and large hotel resorts demanding huge amounts of water, which is absent in Nosara

because the foreign residents are more interested in surfing and yoga. Furthermore, because of time

limits only 35 residents have filled in a survey for the research. Therefore statistical significance is not

possible, although various groups of the community are questioned. Besides, some actors that are

involved in the water problem of Nosara as the AyA were unfortunately inaccessible to participate in

this research. Because of that, some viewpoints are missing in the results. In future research, more

interviews and surveys should be conducted and all concerned actors (mainly governmental

institutions) should be included to reach a better overview of the situation. Besides, it would be

interesting to compare the case of Nosara with other related cases in order to indicate if it is possible

to learn from each other. The current research contributed to the literature by providing an overview

of solutions for related cases with water problems. Furthermore it gives an analyses of the different

opinions of all local actors that are directly involved in the water issue. This could be useful for the

strategy of reaching a sustainable water situation in the district of Nosara. However, because the rain

started in May again in Nosara, the concerns are temporarily gone until a new dry season arises.

Therefore it seems that residents of Nosara do not know the value of water till the well is dry.

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9 CONCLUSION

The following question was central to this policy-oriented research:

RQ: What could be, in times of water scarcity and in the future, solutions for the water shortages in

the district of Nosara, Guanacaste?

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the water problems in Nosara in order to find

solutions for the water shortages. For this purpose is tried to obtain opinions and thoughts of all

actors involved in the situation. Observations did function as additional data.

The current research shows that the following stakeholders are the most important in the

water problem: the ASADAs, the residents, the tourism sector, real-estate developers, the NCA and

the AyA. Beforehand, it was assumed that the INDER, IMN, MINAET and SENARA would have a large

role as well, but those actors were not present in the specific area of Nosara and almost nobody of

the respondents mentioned them in the research, while they all have responsibilities regarding water

in Costa Rica. How does the local community, residential tourists, owners of tourism facilities and the

water suppliers (ASADAs) perceive the historical, current and future water shortages and how do

they deal with it? Except for two residents, all the respondents were aware of the water problem in

Nosara. This could be due to the fact that the majority receives water from the ASADA, which is

forced to temporarily shut off the water during the dry season. The majority of the residents

indicated that there was no or slightly a water problem in the past and that the situation got worse in

the last couple of years. This concerns the larger part of the respondents when they think of the

future situation. Some residents and someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs are particularly

concerned about the proposal of digging more wells in the district, because it could have

consequences for the whole ecosystem.

There are a few different main causes that are highlighted in this research. First, changing

natural circumstances as El Niño, climate change and extended droughts with limited amount of rain.

Besides, the dry season is the peak period for tourists coming to the area that asks a high amount of

water. The enormous growth of the population and specifically the type of users demanding a very

large amount of water in comparison with use of local residents, is stated as one of the other main

reasons for the water problem. This fast development is located mainly in the section of Playas de

Nosara, but the surrounding local communities in the district are growing too because people move

to the area for job opportunities. The high amount of cutting trees for developing projects could be

another reason for the water shortage, because of its effect on hydrologic processes and the

infiltration rate. Thirdly, the poor infrastructure of the water system is mentioned by the majority of

the respondents as well. Because of the lack of investments in the system, the current water system

60

is old, frequently broken and not suitable anymore for the high demand of water. The small number

of wells is according to some respondents another reason, but there is no up-to-date knowledge

about the amount of water in the aquifer which makes digging new wells a risky move. Two other

important reasons raised are the lack of collaboration and problems with funding solutions.

Currently, there is no collaboration between the ASADAs in Nosara or a satisfactory relationship

between the ASADAs and the AyA. Furthermore, the seven different ASADAs have a very simple

administrative structure in which there is a lack of knowledge regarding the administration of the

water system. In ASADAs of local residents, people with interest in water are often part of the water

board. But in the ASADA of Playas de Nosara, which is led by mostly foreign residents, not

particularly the people with the most knowledge or experience in the field are chosen as board

members, but the most popular candidate. Furthermore, the rate of water is very low while

maintenance costs are high which results in no possibility to invest in a new water infrastructure. The

majority of respondents experience water problems and state that they use less water than in the

past because they know that Nosara is facing water shortages. Generally, foreign residents do

storage water through fill up tanks when water is available. Local residents fill buckets or covered

bins for times when the water is cut off.

The results showed that according to the most residents of the district of Nosara, the ASADAs

are responsible for fixing the water problems. However, a quarter of all respondents indicated that

all actors are responsible because residents spill the water while the governmental institutions

should have more control over the situation and rating. When talking about actually implementing

possible solutions, the ASADA is again the one that is chosen most often. In contrast, local residents

frequently indicated that all actors should implement solutions because collaboration is essential.

Furthermore, opinions are divided about on which scale solutions should be implemented, but

national level is brought forward most.

To what extend are the effects of (residential) tourism included in the water policy and

management of Nosara and were there changes in water governance? Effects of tourism are not

specifically included in local policies of the district Nosara because it does not have their own

municipality with local regulations. Although there were no changes in water governance yet,

currently research is done on the possibility for collaboration between the ASADAs. One existing

policy that can be related to effects of tourism is the voluntary impact fee that people who build new

houses have to pay for improving the water system. Unfortunately, because of the absence of strong

regional zoning there is no control the massive development of tourism and real-estate areas.

So, what are useful (policy) solutions for water shortages? In the following table are

summarized the main solutions brought forward by different actors and on which term they could be

applied and whether they are realistic, based on interviews, surveys and observations.

61

SOLUTION TYPE WHEN REALISTIC

NEW WELLS Technical Short-term Yes, if there is enough water in the aquifer

IMPROVING INFRASTRUCTURE Technical Short-term Yes, with necessary financial resources

SMALL-SCALE WASTE WATER

TREATMENT PLANTS

Technical Long-term No, expensive and complex solution

DESALINAZATION PLANTS Technical Long-term No, expensive and complex solution

“SMART HOMES” Technical Short-term Yes, for residents with luxurious houses

COLLABORATION BETWEEN

ASADAS

Policy Short-term Yes, if the gap is smaller between type of

residents and willingness remains

ASSISTENCE FROM AYA Policy Long-term No, AyA should first have more manpower

EDUCATION Policy Short-term Yes, such as primary school projects

SLOW DOWN OR STOP

PROVIDING BUILDING PERMITS

Policy Short-term No, disagreement of the real-estate sector

and developers.

MANDATORY IMPACT FEE Policy Long-term No, should be first permitted by the ARESEP

REGULATION ON WATER USE Policy Long-term No, can’t be implemented by local institutions

IMPLEMENT LAWS ON

PROTECTING WATER SOURCES

Policy Long-term No, this is not an easy to fix solution because

of political circumstances

INCREASE OR DIFFERENTIATE

WATER RATES

Policy Long-term Yes, but this must be addressed by the

ARESEP as well

(INCREASE) VOLUNTARY FEES Policy Short-term Yes, can be implemented by ASADAs

TEACHING EMPLOYEES/GUESTS Personal Short-term Yes, can be carried out directly by residents

WATER SAVING METHODS ON

HOUSEHOLD LEVEL

Personal Short-term Yes, can be on so many different ways that it

is possible for all residents

WATER RECYCLING, RAINWATER

HARVESTING

Personal Short-term Yes, but only if the resident can afford it;

more likely solution for foreign residents

Table 6 Solutions for the water shortages

Who is going to pay for these possible solutions? There is uncertainty about the available

resources of the government for investments in the water system. Differentiated rates are frequently

mentioned as solutions for the lack of financial resources or to let the polluter or excessive user pay.

While there is a system of different rates in Costa Rica, in Nosara every type of user pays the same

rate for water. Another solution that is brought forward are fundraising events for water projects,

while some local residents mention foreign organizations as a source of income. The most

problematic factors for implementing solutions are inefficient government bureaucracy and

inadequate supply of infrastructure. After that, access to financing and corruption are the next

aspects that make it hard to improve the water situation. To conclude: short term solutions that

could be done by residents are on this moment the most realistic ones, but policy solutions are

important as well although these depend on the cooperation of several institutions.

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10 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of this research that is conducted to investigate solutions for the water

shortages in times of drought and in the future for the district of Nosara, the following

recommendations can be proposed to improve the current water situation. These recommendations

could be useful for all actors involved; the ASADAs, the AyA, the residents and the real-estate and

other tourism developers.

SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ASADAS IN THE DISTRICT OF NOSARA

I. This research shows that many people consider new wells when thinking about solutions for

water shortages in Nosara. This could be a solution, but as long as there is uncertainty about

the quantity of water in the aquifer beneath Nosara, digging new wells is a risky option.

Therefore is recommended to conduct more research to the condition of the aquifer. For

funding the AyA could be approached. Another option is to apply for funding of foreign

research through partnerships with universities or non-governmental organizations. A

starting point could be in the network of the Global Water Partnership.

II. In this study, it has been clearly identified that the infrastructure of the present water system

does not meet the current demand of potable water. On short-term basis it is important to

renew the infrastructure to prevent leakages and outages in the future. However, this is a

costly and wide operation, it is a valuable investment for the future. Nowadays, problems

with the system are solved when they occur instead of preventing future problems. As

confirmed by the literature, an increase of the adaptive capacity of the governance of water

in the district of Nosara is required to be able to deal with uncertainty.

III. This research shows that there is hardly any collaboration between the seven different

ASADAs in the district of Nosara, while many people believe that cooperation is the key to

solutions. The water situation asks for more collaboration because water wastage in one

area could cause problems in another. There are at least benefits in collaborate more with

other ASADAs to jointly purchase new tubes or to share information. As well, ASADAs

together could combine forces to apply for funding for solutions or implement school

projects about using water.

IV. As an example from other cases with water shortages, increase or differentiate water rates is

a solution to save water. The ones who use most or extensive amounts should pay higher

rates to discourage wasting the scarce water. However, this should be addressed by the

ARESEP but the ASADAs could approach together to be allowed to request different rates.

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SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TOURISM AND REAL-ESTATE DEVELOPMENT

I. According to the literature, the tourism industry puts mainly pressure on water resources in

relatively small communities on a seasonal basis (Lehmann, 2009). The demand-side water

management which aims to reduce water use is specifically relevant for the tourism industry,

because all tourist facilities could save substantial amounts of water by using demand-side

management (Gössling et. al., 2012). In Nosara, the tourism industry and real-estate

development sector should prevent exhaustive usage of water by educating guests and

builders. Furthermore, building “smart homes” should be promoted and all tourism

accommodations should take measures to save water. Smart homes have more efficient

appliances and maintaining household water-using devices that achieve water savings.

Examples are indoor water efficiency tools for the bathroom or kitchen, but also especially

relevant for Nosara are tools for saving water through pool management and sustainable

garden maintenance. These are of course applicable for tourism accommodations as well.

RECOMMENDATIONS RESIDENTS

I. Every resident should save water in times of droughts to prevent depletion of the resource.

Water saving methods on household level could be implemented on many different ways; for

example taking shorter showers and using a plug when doing dishes.

II. Residents who can afford it should take measures to recycle water or harvest rainwater.

Rainwater could be captured in the winter for at least watering the plants in the dry season.

Such systems could be bought in larger amounts to decrease the costs.

III. If residents have employees that work in and around their house, they should educate them

by providing information about reducing water use or giving them more sustainable

alternatives when using water. Gardeners should for example water the plants in the late

afternoon and cleaning employees should be careful with using water for cleaning purposes.

If residents rent their houses to guests, they should inform them about the water situation

and ask them to use only the necessary. As explained in the literature, if the whole

community is aware of the importance of conserving water, the complex resource system

could be managed better and the source of water can be recovered more quickly (Berkes,

2004).

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REFERENCES

Acuña Ávalos, R. (2015). Despite New Well, Guiones Rings in New Year with Little Water and Lots of

Tourists. La Voz de Guanacaste. Retrieved from:

http://www.vozdeguanacaste.com/en/articles/2015/12/31/despite-new-well-guiones-rings-new-

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APPENDICES

1. LIST OF RESPONDENTS

Interviews

1. Foreign resident, board member of ASADA Playas de Nosara

2. Foreign resident, owner of a real-estate company

3. Local resident, sustainability manager of the Harmony Hotel

4. Foreign resident, owner of a tourism company

5. Local resident, board member of the Nosara Civic Association

6. Foreign resident, board member of ASADA Playas de Nosara

7. Foreign resident, consultant for the Nosara Civic Association

8. Foreign resident, former board member of the Nosara Civic Association

9. Local resident, someone of the Nation Union of ASADAs

10. Foreign resident, board member of ASADA Nosara

11. Foreign resident, owner of a real-estate company

12. Local resident, board member of ASADA Garza

Surveys

1. Foreign resident, Men, 53 year

2. Foreign resident, Women, 69 year

3. Foreign resident, Men, 59 year

4. Foreign resident, Men, 53 year

5. Foreign resident, Women, 35 year

6. Foreign resident, Men, 71 year

7. Foreign resident, Men, 48 year

8. Foreign resident, Women, 36 year

9. Foreign resident, Women, 50 year

10. Foreign resident, Men, 61 year

11. Foreign resident, Men, 42 year

12. Foreign resident, Women, 39 year

13. Foreign resident, Women, 26 year

14. Foreign resident, Women, 36 year

15. Foreign resident, Women, 36 year

69

16. Foreign resident, Women, 62 year

17. Local resident, Women, 34 year

18. Local resident, Women, 31 year

19. Local resident, Men, 30 year

20. Local resident, Women, 17 year

21. Local resident, Women, 24 year

22. Local resident, Women, 23 year

23. Local resident, Women, 31 year

24. Local resident, Women, 27 year

25. Local resident, Men, 33 year

26. Local resident, Women, 19 year

27. Local resident, Men, 34 year

28. Local resident, Men, 25 year

29. Local resident, Men, 81 year

30. Local resident, Men, 25 year

31. Local resident, Women, 42 year

32. Local resident, Women, 32 year

33. Local resident, Women, 28 year

34. Local resident, Men, 33 year

35. Local resident, Women, 35 year