Water supply and sanitation in Nicaragua
Encyclopedia
| Nicaragua Nicaragua Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean... : Water and Sanitation |
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| Data | ||
| Water coverage (broad definition) | 79% | |
| Sanitation coverage (broad definition) | 47% | |
| Continuity of supply (%) | 53% | |
| Average urban water use (l/c/d) | ||
| Average urban domestic water and sewer bill for 20m3 | 6.50 US$/month | |
| Share of household metering | n/a | |
| Share of collected wastewater treated | 42% | |
| Annual investment in WSS | 9 US$ /capita | |
| Share of self-financing by utilities | 16% (1990-99) | |
| Share of tax-financing | 7% (1990-99) | |
| Share of external financing | 77% (1990-99) | |
| Institutions | ||
| Decentralization to municipalities | Very limited | |
| National water and sanitation company | Yes | |
| Water and sanitation regulator | Yes | |
| Responsibility for policy setting | A Council | |
| Sector law | Yes (1998) | |
| Number of urban service providers | 30 | |
| Number of rural service providers | n/a | |
Water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
and sanitation
Sanitation
Sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems are human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic...
in Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
is provided by a national public utility in urban areas and water committees in rural areas. Despite relatively high levels of investment, access to water in urban areas has barely kept up with population growth, access to urban sanitation has actually declined and service quality remains poor. However, a substantial increase in access to water supply and sanitation has been reached in rural areas.
The water sector underwent major reforms in 1998 that separated policy, regulatory, and operating functions. Decentralization has been proposed for a decade, but implementation was very slow and in mid-2007 was reversed when the national water company took over two municipal systems.
Access
| Urban (58% of the population) | Rural (42% of the population) | Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | Broad definition | 90% | 63% | 79% |
| House connections | 84% | 27% | 60% | |
| Sanitation | Broad definition | 56% | 34% | 47% |
| Sewerage | 22% | 0% | 13% | |
Source: WHO
Who
Who may refer to:* Who , an English-language pronoun* who , a Unix command* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism- Art and entertainment :* Who? , a 1958 novel by Algis Budrys...
/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP/2006). Data for water and sanitation based on the Nicaragua Demographic and Health Survey (2001) and the Living Standard Measurement Survey (2001).
Access to water supply and sanitation in urban areas of Nicaragua has been declining, since there has been little expansion in access while population levels have increased. Even though the JMP found coverage levels to be at 90%, the Nicaraguan Water and Sewerage Enterprise (ENACAL), the public utility responsible for provision of water and sanitation services to urban areas, estimates that effective coverage is less than 60 percent due to insufficient and unreliable service.
There have been significant improvements in rural areas, however, since 1990. Access to improved water supply in rural areas has increased significantly from 46% in 1990 to 63% in 2004. Access to improved sanitation in rural areas has increased from 24% in 1990 to 34% in 2004. According to the 2005 census, access to improved water supply in Nicaragua was at 76.7% in 2005, which is lower than the JMP estimate shown above. Access to improved sanitation, however, was 84.6% according to the census. The difference can be largely explained by the fact that the JMP definition takes into account only improved latrines with a complete structure that are in service, while the census also counts abandoned or traditional latrines.
Service quality
Water supply in 47% of localities monitored by the regulatory agency (46 out of 96 systems) is not continuous. This share is higher in the dry season, between the months of February and May, than in the wet season. Poor quality and efficiency of water service are serious concerns in the Managua region. The existing water supply in Managua cannot meet current demand due to high rates of leakage and wastage, which account for 55% of total water produced and distributed by the system. Interruptions in service provision are common, with some households receiving service for less than 2 hours per day. Only 42 percent of connections in Managua have meters operating in good condition. Additionally, ENACAL, the national utility responsible for water provision in Managua, has been labelled as "one of the most notorious overbillers in the country".Bacteriological urban drinking water quality was considered acceptable by the WHO
Who
Who may refer to:* Who , an English-language pronoun* who , a Unix command* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism- Art and entertainment :* Who? , a 1958 novel by Algis Budrys...
based on samples analyzed by the national utility.
In 2005 CONAPAS estimated that 42% of all collected wastewater in the country was treated. At the moment there is no wastewater treatment system in the city of Managua. The 2005 Census reported that 63% of households have toilet systems which discharge into sewers in Managua, with 30% of the population using pit latrines in settlements, and the remainder using septic tanks managed by five private companies.
In 1996 a Sanitation Master Plan for the City of Managua was completed and later finalized in 2002. Based on this study, ENACAL is currently overseeing the construction of a water treatment plant and collection system, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the German Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (KfW), and the Nordic Fund, which is expected to be completed by December, 2008.
Water sources and uses
Nicaragua is a water-rich country with a water availability of 35,000 cubic meter/capita/year, corresponding to more than five times the average for Central America and the Caribbean. Less than 1% of these water resources is withdrawn for human use. The major water user is agriculture (84% of withdrawals), followed by domestic use (14%) and industry (2%).Rainfall, while abundant, varies greatly. The Caribbean lowlands are the wettest section of Central America, receiving between 2,500 and 6,500 millimeters of rain annually. The western slopes of the central highlands and the Pacific lowlands receive considerably less annual rainfall. Mean annual precipitation for the rift valley and western slopes of the highlands ranges from 1,000 to 1,500 millimeters. Rainfall is seasonal—May through October is the rainy season, and December through April is the driest period.
Groundwater is the main source for municipal water supply in Nicaragua. For example, Managua - which is located on the shores of the polluted Lake Managua
Lake Managua
Lake Managua is a lake in Nicaragua. The Spanish name is Lago de Managua or Lago Xolotlán. At 1,042 km², it is approximately long and wide. Similarly to the name of Lake Nicaragua, its name was coined by the Spanish conquerors from "Mangue" and agua...
- is supplied entirely by groundwater, including by groundwater that infiltrates from the craters of volcanoes - called "lagoons'" within the city. For example, Asososca lagoon, to the west, is Managua's most important source of drinking water.
History and recent developments
Somoza
The Somoza family was an influential political dynasty who ruled Nicaragua as an hereditary dictatorship. Their influence exceeded their combined 43 years in the de facto presidency, as they were the power behind the other presidents of the time through their control of the National Guard...
government until 1979 the larger urban water systems were operated by the private sector, while a Ministerial department was in charge of water systems in smaller towns. After the revolution a centralized public national water company, the Instituto Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (INAA), was created.
The reforms of 1998
After the electoral defeat of Daniel OrtegaDaniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and revolutionary, currently serving as the 83rd President of Nicaragua, a position that he has held since 2007. He previously served as the 79th President, between 1985 and 1990, and for much of his life, has been a leader in the Sandinista...
's first administration (1979-1990) the subsequent governments tried to decentralize
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
service provision without much success. In 1998, under the administration of Arnoldo Alemán
Arnoldo Alemán
José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo was the 81st President of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002.-Biography:Alemán was born in Managua and received his early education at the La Salle institute in Managua...
(1997-2002), the sector was reformed, but not decentralized. The reform consisted in the separation of policy, regulatory and service provision functions: CONAPAS was created to set policies; ENACAL was created to provide services, taking over most of the staff and assets of INAA; and a new regulatory agency was created that inherited the name INAA.
Neither before the 1998 reform nor afterwards was there much change in the sector towards decentralization
Decentralization
__FORCETOC__Decentralization or decentralisation is the process of dispersing decision-making governance closer to the people and/or citizens. It includes the dispersal of administration or governance in sectors or areas like engineering, management science, political science, political economy,...
or the establishment of public-private partnerships. The financial self-sufficiency of ENACAL improved between 1998 and 2001, but there were public protests against the hardship imposed by higher tariffs. Subsequently tariffs were frozen during the administration of Enrique Bolaños
Enrique Bolaños
Enrique José Bolaños Geyer was the President of Nicaragua from 10 January 2002 to 10 January 2007. President Bolaños is of Spanish and German heritage and was born in Masaya ....
(2002-2007), leading to a gradual deterioration of the utility's financial situation.
Service contract
In 1999, ENACAL, with financial support from the IDBIDB
IDB can mean:* Inter-American Development Bank, also known as IADB* IDB Communications Group, Inc., a constituent of MCI Inc.* Illegal Diamond Buying, the term used at the turn of the 19th-20th century for diamond trading outside the De Beers cartel....
, accepted an international management contract with the goal of restructuring the sector to include private sector participation and transforming ENACAL into a publicly traded company. This project included provisions for decentralization, with private and local water management in the municipalities of León
León, Nicaragua
León is a department in northwestern Nicaragua . It is also the second largest city in Nicaragua, after Managua. It was founded by the Spaniards as Santiago de los Caballeros de León and rivals Granada, Nicaragua, in the number of historic Spanish colonial homes and churches...
and Chinandega
Chinandega
Chinandega is a town and the departmental seat of Chinandega department in Nicaragua. It is also the administrative centre of the surrounding municipality of the same name. The city has a population of 121,793 inhabitants with 151,000 in the municipality...
. Protests against privatization put a halt to these reforms and in 2003 the Nicaraguan Legislature passed Law 440 which included a moratorium on any water privatization "until a national water law has been approved". Soon after, the Nicaraguan Legislature also changed ENACAL’s status from a “state-owned business” to a “state-owned public utility”.
Current administration
The current administration of Daniel OrtegaDaniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra is a Nicaraguan politician and revolutionary, currently serving as the 83rd President of Nicaragua, a position that he has held since 2007. He previously served as the 79th President, between 1985 and 1990, and for much of his life, has been a leader in the Sandinista...
took office in November 2006. This administration does oppose private sector participation and has been critical of autonomous regulation. One option considered by the government is to establish a National Water Authority.
The current administration has supported a restructuring of the 1999 IDB project. In December 2006 ENACAL signed a five-year service contract which eliminates all private sector development, including the private contracts for the sector in Léon and Chinandega, and gives ENACAL an exclusive service contract for commercial services (meter reading, billing, customer service), supported by the IDB
IDB
IDB can mean:* Inter-American Development Bank, also known as IADB* IDB Communications Group, Inc., a constituent of MCI Inc.* Illegal Diamond Buying, the term used at the turn of the 19th-20th century for diamond trading outside the De Beers cartel....
as part of the modernization of ENACAL. The contract has been criticized by a consumer advocacy group which argues the agreement will make access to public water more costly to most Nicaraguans.
Sector strategy
In October 2005 CONAPAS approved a sector strategy that aims - again - at decentralization, financial self-sufficiency and strengthening of the regulator. In addition, it calls for the development of a sustainable operational model for rural areas.In January 2007 CONAPAS launched a 10-year comprehensive water and sanitation plan. It foresees investments of US$592m and will focus on rural areas using the Social Fund FISE as an implementing agency.
A new Water Law was passed in November 2007 which gives ENACAL responsibility for supervision and control of service provision in rural areas. Although the law's implication for institutional responsibilities is not yet clear, a strategy for the entire sector is under preparation by ENACAL—rather than CONAPAS—and should shed some light on the institutional roles in the sector.
Responsibility for water supply and sanitation
- the General Drinking Water and Sewerage Services Law, Law No. 297 of 1998
- the Law-Decree No. 276 of 1998 that created ENACAL, and
- Law No. 275 of 1998 that transformed INAA into a regulatory agency.
A General Water Law (Ley General de Aguas Nacionales), which is focused on water resources but also covers a number of water supply and sanitation issues as well, was approved by Parliament on September 9, 2007.
Policy and regulation
Responsibility for policy setting in the Nicaraguan water and sanitation sector is vested in the National Council for Drinking Water and Sanitation - Comisión Nacional de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado Sanitario (CONAPAS). CONAPAS includes the Secretariat of the Presidency, whose representative presides the Council, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Environment, the national utility ENACAL, the regulatory agency INAA, the Institute for Territorial Studies (INETER) and the Social Investment Fund FISE.The regulatory agency, the National Water and Sewerage Institute - Instituto Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados, INAA - is in charge of sector regulation. It handles customer complaints, approves tariff increases and can provide concessions for service providers. However, there were no tariff increase requests between August 2002 and February 2008 and no requests for concessions, so that the regulator has been condemned to inactivity.
Service provision
According to municipal law, municipalities are responsible for providing water and sanitation services in Nicaragua. However, in practice very few municipalities actually provide these services. Instead more than 60% of water users are served by the national water and sewerage company Empresa Nicaragüense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados (ENACAL), which serves most urban areas. A further 30% are served by community organizations (potable water committees) in rural areas. Less than 10% of users are served by a departmental water company in Rio BlancoRío Blanco, Matagalpa
Río Blanco is a municipality in the Matagalpa department of Nicaragua....
as well as by 26 small municipalities.
As of 2004 ENACAL had a total of 410,000 registered users in the country, of which Managua represents 50 percent.
Other functions
The Social Investment Fund FISE finances infrastructure and supports local communities in the management of infrastructure. In the water and sanitation sector it has been particularly active in rural water supply and sanitation.Besides providing services in urban areas ENACAL also supported community organizations in rural areas and has been quite successful in this field. Both the WHO
Who
Who may refer to:* Who , an English-language pronoun* who , a Unix command* Who?, one of the Five Ws in journalism- Art and entertainment :* Who? , a 1958 novel by Algis Budrys...
and the US-financed Environmental Health Project report high levels of sustainability of rural water service provision in projects supported by ENACAL's rural water directorate. However, in 2005, the responsibility for support to rural communities was given to FISE and donor funds are now channeled through it.
Economic efficiency
The efficiency of urban service provision is low, with estimated non-revenue waterNon-revenue water
Non revenue water is water that has been produced and is “lost” before it reaches the customer. Losses can be real losses or apparent losses . High levels of NRW are detrimental to the financial viability of water utilities, as well to the quality of water itself...
of more than 55% in Managua. ENACAL has taken recent steps to improve efficiency, however and labor productivity has increased from 7.5 employees per 1000 water connections in 2006 to 7.04 in 2007. In 2007 operating and administrative costs decreased by 10%. ENACAL has accomplished these improvements by cutting back on energy usage, increasing billed revenue to 11.6% as of April 2008 through improving their commercial database, expanding metering, and identifying customers who were not previously billed.
Despite these improvements, ENACAL currently has a debt of 436 million córdobas (US$24 million) which is continuously growing as their expenses exceed their earnings by C$31.8 million (US$1.7 million) per month.
Tariffs and cost recovery
Urban water and sewer tariffs charged by ENACAL have been increased substantially between 1998 and 2001, with annual increases of 28, 27 and 12% in 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively. Such high and sustained increases were unusual in the region. While these increases allowed the public utility to regain its financial health, in 2001 they led to protests and legal action against a proposed further 30% tariff increase. Between August 2002 and February 2008 tariffs have been frozen in nominal terms. This has again eroded the financial health of the utility leading to its near bankruptcy and requiring the National Government to make transfers of an average of US$20 million per year to compensate net losses since 2005.ENACAL tariffs are complex and ostensibly aim at protecting the poor. Tariffs vary depending on the city (although prices are lower in Managua than in the rest of the country most likely because the cost of delivery is also lower), user category (three residential user categories and "institutions", the latter paying the highest tariffs; within the residential user categories the ratio between lowest and highest tariffs is 1:3) and consumption (higher tariffs for consumption above 20, 30 and 50 cubic meters per month respectively). The poorest who have no access to water and sewerage or are served by rural water committees are by definition excluded from these subsidies.
It has been estimated that an average household in the two lowest income quintiles in the interior of the country that receives water services from ENACAL paid the equivalent of US$ 6.50 per month in 2003, which corresponds to about 7% of its income estimated at US$ 93 per month. While this share is very high, the bill is probably lower than the economic cost of time spent carrying the water and the burden of disease from unsafe water.
In July 2007 there was a modification in sewerage tariffs for the City of Managua which allows sewage treatment costs to be partially covered. This change will be applied as soon as the sewage treatment plant becomes operational, which is expected to occur by the end of 2008.
In February 2008 a water tariff increase was approved to cover the rise in inflation between 2002 and 2006. This increase is to be applied gradually beginning in May 2008, with an average increase of about 16%. Future increases will be approved by INAA and are expected to be issued by ENACAL shortly.
Investment and financing
Investments are almost entirely financed by foreign donors and the government passes foreign credits on as grants to ENACAL and to water committees in rural areas. Between 2002 and 2007 ENACAL invested US$162 million in the sector, of which 2% was self-financed by the utility, 5% was financed by the national government with its own resources, and the remaining 93% came from external grants and loans.
There are no data on investments by NGOs, which provide funds mainly for infrastructure in rural areas.
External support
The main donors in the water and sanitation sector in Nicaragua are the Inter-American Development BankInter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean...
(IDB), the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
development bank
Development bank
The phrase development bank may refer to:* Community development banks fund low-income areas in the United States* Multilateral Development Bank provide financing for international development...
KfW
KFW
KFW may refer to:*Keith Fullerton Whitman , an American musician*KfW or Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau, a German public-sector financial institution...
, the Japan International Cooperation Agency
Japan International Cooperation Agency
The Japan International Cooperation Agency is an independent governmental agency that coordinates official development assistance for the government of Japan...
, and the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
, which is currently beginning to engage in the sector. The Swiss Development Cooperation (COSUDE), the United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Children's Fund was created by the United Nations General Assembly on December 11, 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children in countries that had been devastated by World War II...
(UNICEF), the Canadian International Development Agency
Canadian International Development Agency
The Canadian International Development Agency was formed in 1968 by the Canadian government. CIDA administers foreign aid programs in developing countries, and operates in partnership with other Canadian organizations in the public and private sectors as well as other international organizations...
(CIDA), the Nordic Fund, the Government of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
through the Wasser company, and a number of other donors also support the sector.
Numerous NGOs are engaged in the water and sanitation sector in Nicaragua, including CARE, Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
, PLAN
Plan
A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with timing and resources, used to achieve an objective. See also strategy. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal...
International, Health without Limits, Water for Life
Water for Life
"Water for Life" was a concert given by French electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre on the night of December 16, 2006 amidst the dunes of the Sahara desert at Merzouga, Morocco...
, Living Water International
Living Water International
Living Water International is a faith-based non-profit organization that helps communities in developing countries acquire safe drinking water in response to the global water crisis. It is based in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1990 and currently operates in 26 countries...
and Christian Medical Action.
Donor coordination
The various donors that support the Nicaraguan government in its efforts to improve water supply and sanitation coordinate in a sector table and have subscribed in 2005 to a Sector-Wide Approach (SwAp) to even better coordinate their efforts.Interamerican Development Bank
The IDB supports many projects in the sector, in both urban and rural areas:- The Municipal Social Investment Program is a US$50 million multi-sector project approved in 2005 and implemented by FISE. KfW provides an additional US$10 million and the OPEC International Fund US$4 million of co-financing for the project.
- The Potable Water and Sanitation Investment Program is a US$30.6 million project, with a potential for co-financing from SECO/Swiss for US$9 million, and was approved in 2006. The project supports Loan 1049/SF and aims to improve the technical, operational, commercial and financial management of ENACAL.The project is expected to be completed in 2011.
- The Modernization of the Management of Water and Sewerage Services Program was originally approved in 1999 to support reforms in the sector surrounding privatization and a service contract was given to an international operator contractor. The US$13.9 million project, with a co-financing of US$5 million from OPEC, has been restructured as of 2006 and ENACAL is now the sole contractor. The project is expected to be completed in 2010.
- The Institutional Support to the Coordination and Strategy Secretariat includes a US$1.38 million pre-investment study with ENACAL to design studies for potable water and sanitation projects within Managua. The studies are expected to be completed by the end of 2008.
- The Implementation Sanitation Measures Managua Lake and the Lake and City of Managua Environment Improvement projects bring together co-financing from the IDB (US$30 million), KfW (US$28 million), and the Nordic Fund (US$10 million), with the Government of Nicaragua contributing US$10 million, for a waste water treatment plant in the City of Managua. The project is expected to be completed by December 2008.
World Bank
- The Nicaragua Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project is a combination credit (US$0.3 million) and grant (US$19.7 million) which was approved in June, 2008. The project, which will be implemented by FISE, aims to increase access to sustainable water supply and sanitation services in the rural areas of the country.
Main sources
- Interamerican Development Bank: Nicaragua. Water supply and sanitation investment program. Loan proposal, 2006 IDB 2006
- World Health Organization, 2000. Evaluación de los Servicios de Agua y Saneamiento 2000 en las Américas. WHO 2000