Suggestions for a regional watershed management project
The following report is the result of a 30-day consultancy that involved 15 days of field research and interviews in the countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama and 15 days of orientation, research and report preparation in the offices of ROCAP in Guatemala. The Consultant was contracted by USAID/ROCAP to provide the background information and detailed suggestions for the preparation of Project Identification Document for a proposed "Regional Watershed Management Project" for Central America and Panama. A second consultant, Dr. Luis García, concurrently prepared a similar report based on investigation and interviews in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. His report should be considered a complement to the present report, and vice-versa. Together, the reports are a response to what are considered the watershed management needs in Central America and Panama, and provide insight into their fulfillment with the implementation of a regionally-based project. Visits to the countries of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama revealed common deficiencies in the capabilities of the national governements to properly manage their watershed resources: -Discrepancies and weaknesses in the legal base which delegates the authority and responsabilities of watershed management to institutions within the countries. -A chronic lack of the human resources necessary to plan and manage watershed resources for their optimal utilization. -Weaknesses in or the total absence of an appropriate educational infraestructure to provide training in watershed resources management. -Incapability of national institutions to collect, analyze, manage, and disseminate the information necessary for watershed management planning. In response to these deficiencies, the following is a proposed 5-year project of regional design, consisting of a series of components which address the various weaknesses in the capabilities of the institutions to manage watershed resources in Central America and Panama. The project would strengthen the watershed management infraestructure at the regional and national levels with the following objectives: 1. An adequate infraestructure of human resources and operational capability within the natural resource institutions at the national level. 2. National watershed management plans that include the prioritization of principal watersheds and diagnostic plans that will facilitate future funding for specific watershed management projects. 3. A more appropriate mechanism(s) for the collection, analysis, management, and dissemination of natural resources information pertinent to planning on national and regional levels. 4. The substantial improvement in the legal and policy base necessary to bring about the more rational utilization of watershed resources through the more effective cooperation and comprehensive management between government institutions. The project will be coordinated by CATIE in Turrialba, Costa Rica through the Wildlands and Watershed Management Program (PASC) within the Departament of Renewable Natural Resources. PASC will build its staff, and in the first year of the project will collect information and make the formal contacts necessary to establish priorities for the plans for action, sign formal agreements of collaboration with counterpart institutions at the national level, and contract the necessary personnel. Once established at the national level, PASC will orient and assist counterpart institutions in the implementation of the components listed below. The Comité Regional de Recursos Hidráulicos (CRRH) and the Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana (SIECA) will collaborate in both the preparatory and execution stages of the project (see García report). The proposed project would have the following components: 1. Technical Assistance in Watershed Management - Provision of technical assistance in watershed management planning; - Development of preliminary natural resources inventories; - Preparation of diagnostic plans for priority watersheds; - Preparation of national watershed management strategy. 2. Curriculum Development - Assess training needs for national educational and natural resources regulatory institutions; - Provision of necessary human resources for training purposes; - Scholarships and research assistanceships; - Seminars and shot courses; - Pilot watersheds for training, demostration and investigation. 3. Instructional Resources Development - Establishment of a regional instructional resources laboratory; - Assessment of instructional resource needs in countries; - Development of education modules, technical training packages, texts, manuals, etc. - Dissemination of needed publications and bibliographic materials. 4. Natural Resources Information Management - Assess information management needs and data gaps in countries; - Establish and promote CRIES and other appropriate information management systems in appropriate national institutions within a regional information networky; - Consolidate existing natural resources information and put into system. 5. Natural Resources Policy Support - Assess Legal and administration policy and diagnosis; - Promote needed policy changes in each country. 6. Conciousness Raising in Institutions - Strategy - Information Modules - Newsletters; - Field Trips, Congresses, and Seminars
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Guatemala (Guatemala)
1982
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