1st Regional Forum on Water Integrity, San Salvador, El Salvador, 16-18 February 2011

Organised by: Water Integrity Network (WIN), RRASCA (Regional Network for Water and Sanitation in Central America), FANCA (Fresh Water Action Network Central America), the Regional Committee of Alianza por el Agua and GWP (Global Water Partnership) Central America

Theme: Water Integrity (WI) in Central America.

During the forum, an analysis of the state of integrity in the water sector in the (Spanish speaking) Central American countries will be presented and discussed. Cases on good practices of anti-corruption, transparency and accountability work in the region (and other parts of the world) will also be presented.

Expected outcomes:

• A “Regional Report on Water Integrity”, including the cases presented at the Regional Forum, to be published after the event
• Launch of a (sub) regional WIN coalition for Central America

For more information (also in Spanish) and contact details go to the WIN web site

Spain Providing $164 Million for Safe Drinking Water Projects in Latin America

Image via Wikipedia

 

Seven Latin American countries will benefit from contributions approved on the 15th of October by the Spanish government amounting to 117.2 million Euros ($164 million) for projects providing safe drinking water and improving aqueducts and sanitation.

The contributions are intended for projects in Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and the Dominican Republic and will be managed by the Water and Sanitation Cooperation Fund of Spain’s AECID international development agency. There will also be a complementary contribution of 12.9 million Euros ($18 million) to finance new projects to be carried out in cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank.

About 120 million people lack access systems for potable water and basic health services in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to figures released earlier this year at the 2nd Latin American Sanitation Conference.

Related news: Guatemala: US$ 100 million from Spain and the IDB to improve water and sanitation services, Source News, 21 January 2010.

EFE Source : Herald Tribune, 18 October 2010.

Central America: SWASH+ program expands to 150 more schools

Photo; Water For People

With new funds from the Inter-American Development Bank and The Coca-Cola Foundation, the SWASH+ program will provide safe drinking water, restroom facilities, and improved hygiene education to over 15,000 more students at 150 schools in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

SWASH+ (School Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Education Plus Community Impact) Central America is a regional of the Millennium Water Alliance (MWA) that is be implemented by the US NGOs Water For People, CARE and Catholic Relief Services. So far the program has provided school sanitation facilities to 17,331 students in 152 schools.

In Guatemala, SWASH+ is targeting 65 additional schools and communities in Guatemala. In each school, the program trains the Parent-Teacher Association and school director to build a water supply system. Training on water treatment is also provided. The community helps to build or renovate school restrooms.

Co-financing from local governments and communities is a key part of SWASH+.

Parents and students also participate in hygiene training that emphasizes the importance of handwashing to prevent disease.

UNICEF, ITT and the Global Water Challenge have also been key supporters of the SWASH+ program.

Related web site: SWASH+

Source: Water for People, 23 Aug 2010

El Salvador: Anda announces new water rates

El Salvador’s national aqueduct and sewerage authority Anda has announced new rates for potable water services. The new tariff structure will be applied gradually and additional subsidies will be granted to people with the lowest incomes.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 17 Feb 2010

Latin America: Camif mezzanine fund in advanced negotiations – Empla

The Central American mezzanine infrastructure fund (Camif), which closed in 2009 at US$150mn, is offering long-term funding in 10 Latin American countries. The fund’s partners are IDB, the World Bank’s IFC, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Cabei), the Mexican Fondo de Fondos (CMIC) and the Finnish fund for Industrial Cooperation (Finnfund).

The fund will focus on traditional infrastructure projects but it will also invest in related sectors such as water and sanitation, wastewater treatment, recycling and irrigation.

Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 14 Jan 2010

Central America: water conservation alert

The non-governmental Central American Water Tribunal, based in San Jose, Costa Rica, issued a dramatic warning about future water shortages in the region. The amount of available water per capita has dropped by 60% since 1950, said officials, and is expected to be only 21% of the 1950 figure by 2050. People have caused the problem. In El Salvador, for example, most of the rivers now dry up in the summer because the excessive cutting of trees has altered the hydrological cycle, reported coordinator Mauricio Cermeno of the Salvadorean Ecological Union. In Guatemala, 90% of the surface waters are choked with rubbish or polluted by sewage, admitted the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, and 75% of El Peten – the second biggest wetland in Latin America – is in danger of turning into desert because of drought, deforestation, population growth, and land clearance for farming.
Summary by Louise Shaler

Read the original article: Jose Melendez, El Universal Online (in Spanish), 28 Sep 2009

El Salvador: Country needs to invest US$1.27bn/y to raise water, sanitation coverage, says national water authority

El Salvador needs to invest some US$1.27bn/y to bring potable water and sanitation coverage to optimum levels by 2029, national aqueduct and sewerage authority Anda‘s [Administración Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados] planning director Víctor Manuel Corpeño [said].

In May, Anda unveiled its 2009-29 strategic plan. As well as setting the guidelines for modernizing the entity, the plan aims to raise water and sanitation coverage to 100% by 2029.

[Although national and international agencies] agree that the country needs to invest US$60mn-70mn/y in potable water services to meet its strategic goals, Corpeño said [that] financing needs are much greater in the sanitation sector, as coverage is extremely low, [adding] that an estimated US$1.2bn/y is needed to meet the goals.

“This just includes systems administered by Anda but other operators need to be included also,” he said.
“We basically expect an injection of funds from the government. Financial support during previous administrations was lacking and totally insufficient to meet the country’s needs,” he added.

“We will also approach international cooperation agencies in hopes of obtaining grants. The entity is not currently in a position to take out loans, due to weak finances,” Corpeño said.

Anda is the country’s most relevant water and sewerage operator, with a strong presence in urban areas.

Source: Renzo Dasso, BNamericas [subscription site], 30 jun 2009

El Salvador: Anda to modify potable water subsidy

El Salvador’s national aqueduct and sewerage authority Anda [Administración Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados] will modify the structure of its potable water subsidies for residential, business and industrial clients [ ...]. Anda will now pay a subsidy on the first 20m3 consumed monthly. Previously, the company paid a subsidy of roughly 0.40 colones (US$0.05) for every cubic meter consumed. “According to the World Health Organization, a family can survive on 15m3/m of consumption,” Anda president Francisco José Gómez was quoted as saying. Anda statistics show that 52.6% of the population served by the entity will be covered by the new subsidy, the report said.

Related web site: Wikipedia – Water supply and sanitation in El Salvador

Source: BNamericas/a> [subscription site], 12 Jun 2009

El Salvador: Anda investing US$4.4mn to minimize water losses

El Salvador‘s national aqueduct and sewerage authority Anda will invest US$4.4mn to carry out a nationwide program to reduce water losses in the system, president Sigisfredo Ochoa told [news agency] BNamericas. The financing was provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “The main objective of the program is to minimize the percentage of unbilled water [currently 30%] across our entire potable water distribution system,” Ochoa said.

Ochoa said [the] high percentage of water losses [was due] to leaks in the network and [...] delinquent accounts [through] illegal connections. [...] Another important factor in the equation is Anda’s energy consumption, which uses water to produce electricity to operate the system, Ochoa said. This water cannot be billed as it is for internal operations.

Source: Renzo Dasso, BNamericas [subscription site], 23 Feb 2009

El Salvador: Fomilenio, CARE to increase water services in Poloros

The El Salvadorian chapter of the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Fomilenio, has signed a US$442,000 contract with CARE to carry out a feasibility study for a potable water and sanitation project in Poloros municipality, paper La Prensa Gráfica reported.

The two-phase project, which also includes the design and construction of a micro-basin, is part of a 67-project Fomilenio portfolio presented by municipal governments and communities to develop rural potable water and sanitation services.

[...] With this contract, Fomilenio expects to increase potable water coverage to 85% from 75%, and sanitation coverage to 80% from 74%.

Source: BNamericas [subscription site], 09 Feb 2009