Water pollution problem is serious! Many regions in Costa Rica lack water, and agricultural industries such as coffee are worried about future production

It is understood that Costa Rica is a country rich in water and geothermal resources, and Costa Rica also attaches great importance to agricultural development, is an important global exporter of pineapple, banana and coffee, and is very dependent on the use of water resources.

However, recently, there have been a lot of water crisis in Costa Rica. According to local media reports in Costa Rica, the Water Plumbing and Sewerage Authority (AyA) has had a budget implementation rate of only 48.8% in the past seven years (2017-2023), triggering a water supply crisis in many regions.

As early as January this year, water supplies in surrounding cities such as Moravia in the central part of the country were contaminated with xylene, and in February, places such as Hatillo experienced water shortages, and drinking water in several counties and cities was contaminated with hydrocarbons, and then in March, several cities have faced water supply suspensions. In response, AyA explained that it is the future transfer of water to areas where water shortages are more affected, so the suspension of water supply services is necessary.

However, hydrochemists in the country do not think so, and pointed out that Costa Rica is a country rich in water resources, so it is shameful to have so many water problems. It is believed that it is due to infrastructure problems, mainly long-term pipelines, such as serious aging and leakage, in addition, water shortage of seasonal reservoirs and lack of protection of water resources.

In addition, according to the estimates of the Costa Rican National Meteorological Institute (IMN), under normal circumstances, the average annual rainfall in the Balva County (Balva) region of Costa Rica is 4000 to 5000 mm, but a lot of water resources have been lost due to the insufficient capacity of the water tanks built.

In addition, the current problem of water pollution affects drinking water and agriculture, and the remedy for the problem of drinking water pollution is to use water tankers to supply water to contaminated areas for fear of discomfort after drinking it. In addition, the country's agricultural sector is concerned that when these xylene-contaminated water enters the soil, it will have a toxic effect on the soil and plants, damaging the soil ecological environment. In addition, La Nina weather is likely to come again in the second half of the year, which will lead to severe weather such as drought in Costa Rica, which may further aggravate the problem of water shortage and eventually affect the quality and yield of crops such as coffee.

In response, the President of AyA said that an "accelerated investment plan" was being developed for the construction and renovation of the water supply system, but that the funds currently available in AyA were still insufficient to immediately renovate the entire water supply system, mainly due to the loss of resources as a result of mismanagement by previous governments, which had limited funds and could only be resolved slowly.