Water resources management (WRM) in Honduras is a work in progress and at times has advanced; however, unstable investment and political climates, strong weather phenomena, poverty, lack of adequate capacity, and deficient infrastructures have and will continue to challenge developments to water resource management. The State of Honduras is working on a new General Water Law to replace the 1927 Law on Using National Waters and designed to regulate water use and management. The new water law will also create a Water Authority, and the National Council of Water Resources which will serve as an advising and consultative body.
Initiatives such as the new 2009 General Water Law and The Water Framework Law (2003) along with international monetary and technical assistance and an increasing global focus on integrated water resources management (IWRM) provide hope that Honduras will be able to protect and manage well, their water resources.
Honduras has abundant water resources as the country is located in the tropics but there in lies another major challenge, Honduras must constantly prepare for and recover from frequent heavy storms and flooding. This became all too evident in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch made land fall on Honduras killing 7,000 people.
Surface water drains into Honduras' two primary drainage basins; the Atlantic sloping basin representing 82% of the country, and the Pacific sloping basin accounting for the remaining 13% of Honduras. Together, these two basins drain 106,714 km2 per year. Honduras has ample water availability with annual renewable water resources at 13,766 m3 per capital well above the world per capita average of 8,467 m3 per year or other Latin American countries at 6,739 m3 per year.
Water management history and recent developments Of a historical note, research and subsequent literature of Water Resources Management in Honduras from the Late Classic period (A.D. 600-900) in Copán, a water-rich region of western Honduras, have suggested that lagoons located in Copán's urban residential sectors may have been conceptualized, utilized, and maintained by the inhabitants of surrounding domestic groups. These lagoons, thought to be forms of communal property, created an economic and ideological basis for social integration. Because the lagoons were seen as a shared communal resource, it was difficult for community elites and power brokers to centralize power and monopolize water resources. Presumably, management of water resources continued to evolve among these native communities until the Spanish conquest. Honduras later declared independence from Spain in 1821; however, information regarding water resource management until 1927 has not been located for this overview.
Early 20th century developments in Honduran water resources management were in some ways a response to an expanding export market for bananas during the twenties. The need for irrigation within Honduras' banana farming operations became important for economic development. These irrigated banana fields were located in the fertile valleys of Sula, Aguán y La Ceiba along the Atlantic coast. And today, irrigation is still very important for the agriculture sector of Honduras as it provides for internal consumption and seeks to amplify exports in non-traditional crops.
In 1927, the Law on Using National Waters (Ley Vigente de Aprovechamiento de Aguas Nacionales) was passed to approve measures addressing water use, irrigation, industrial use, and hydropower. Furthermore, the 1927 law marked the beginning of policy measures designed specifically to manage water resources—albeit not yet integrating sectoral policies. Around 1957, Honduras was mostly under military rule until a freely elected government came to power in 1982. It is unclear how military rule sought to manage water resources during this period. The next major water resources policy measures were signed in 2003 as the Water Framework Law which, among many aspects, aims to reduce poverty through better water resources management. In August 2009, a new General Water Law was passed to replace the 1927 water law. Within the new water law a National Water Authority was created to oversee the work of sector institutions.
In spite of ongoing efforts to improve water resources management in Honduras, many challenges continue to exist such as insufficient employment generation, unfavorable investment climate, overvalued currency, lack of credit, high commercial interest rates, deficient infrastructure (water delivery, electricity, communications, and roads), weak legal institutions, inadequate education and workforce productivity, burdensome bureaucratic obstacles, and an unstable political climate. As Honduras and the international community work together to address these hurdles, Honduras will improve water supplies, quality of water, efficiency in irrigation, important freshwater wildlife habitats, and reduce annual flood damage.
Water resource base
Surface and groundwater resources
Honduras is divided into two large drainage basins each consisting of watersheds and rivers that drain towards the oceans. The Atlantic sloping side of Honduras is home to 13 watersheds including Honduras' largest rivers by volume such as the Río Patuca, Río Ulua, and Río Aguan. Together, the watersheds and rivers on the "Atlantic slope" account for 87% of the country's surface water runoff.
The "Pacific slope" side of Honduras has five major watersheds. The important rivers on the Pacific side of the country include the Rió Choluteca which supplies water to the capital city of Tegucigalpa, and the Rió Lempa. All together, the rivers on the Pacific slope convey the other 13% of surface water runoff in Honduras. Total surface water runoff is estimated to be 87 km3 per year with 16% of this water leaving Honduras for neighboring countries of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.
River Basin Area (km2) Volume (106 m3/year) Atlantic sloping watershed 88,034 75,397 Río Motagua 2,141.2 2,072 Río Chamelecón 4,399.3 3,264 Río Ulua 21,230.6 16,959 Río Lean 2,161 Included in Cangrejal Río Cangrejal 1,255 271 Río Cangrejal-Aguan 1,179 Included in Cangrejal Río Aguan 10,386.1 7,329 Río Sico 7,090.8 5,908 Río Plátano 1,248.3 3,225 Río Patuca 24,762.4 23,706 Río Guarunta 5,561.0 Included in Kruta Río Kruta 1,314 7,109 Río Segovia 5,305.2 5,554
River Basin Area (km2) Volume (106 m3/year) Pacific sloping watershed 18,680 11,527 Río Lempa 5,717 3 872 Río Goascorán 1,576.6 1,200 Río Nacaome 2,745.1 2,061 Río Choluteca 7,681.6 3,032 Río Negro/Río Sampile 959.5 1,362
River Basin Area (km2) Volume (106 m3/year)Total from Pacific and Atlantic 106,714 86,924 Source for tables above: FAO 2000
Groundwater availability is not precise in Honduras, however, wells located in the lowlands of the Atlantic coast historically have good yields and are able to sustainably supplement water needs there. In 1973, CEPAL (La Comisión Económica para América Latina), estimated that 9.09 km3 of renewable groundwater could be sustainably exploited for use.
Most of this water (8.02 km3 per year) recharges groundwater on the Atlantic drainage basin of Honduras while the smaller Pacific side basin is recharged by an annual 1.07 km3 of water flowing towards the Pacific. Groundwater use has been important in the valleys of interior highlands such as Choluteca, Tegucigalpa, and Comayagua where agriculture and irrigation are important to local economies; however, groundwater resources are in significant decline and availability of groundwater for irrigation has subsequently been adversely affected.
Water quality
Water pollution to both surface and groundwater is primarily due to agricultural run-off and untreated effluents from mining activities. Honduras produces coffee for export along the Atlantic coast and many of the pesticides used become toxic effluents that contaminate rivers and seep into groundwater tables. Heavy metals that escape from mining operations along the Gulf of Fonseca have become a problem and untreated wastewater originating from large towns and cities has often been discharged into nearby waterways, especially in the case of Lake Yojoa. As of 2000, there were no systematic records of pollution levels in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs.
Natural and artificial storage capacity
Apart from numerous small lakes, Honduras counts Lake Yojoa as its largest natural lake and is nationally significant for its fish resources and the surrounding diversity of flora and fauna that it supports. Lake Yojoa is important for drinking water and irrigation of fruits, grains, and vegetables as well.
Yojoa has an approximate surface area 90 km2. In addition to Yojoa, there are five dams and reservoirs with the purposes of storing water for consumer consumption, irrigation, and hydroelectric power operations. These dams regulate the flow of 4.21 km3. The largest of the reservoirs is the El Cajon with a surface area of 94 km2, slightly larger than Lake Yojoa. Total capacity of the El Cajon reservoir is 5600 million m3 (BCM).
Water resources management by sector
Potable water and sanitation
Data on water and sanitation in Honduras varies by resource as already pointed out in Water supply and sanitation in Honduras, however WHO/UNICEF reported in 2006 that sanitation coverage was 69% (broadly defined) with a substantial majority proportion being located in urban settings. Water system coverage was 87% (also broadly defined) with a small majority of this being urban. Water For Peoplehttp://www.waterforpeople.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Int_honduras/ works in Honduras and they report water service in rural areas is ~44%. Furthermore, much of this water is not properly disinfected posing serious health risks from water-borne diseases.
Irrigation and drainage The General Directorate of Water Resources (La Dirección General de Recursos Hídricos (DGRH) is responsible for the development, operation, and maintenance of irrigation systems. Honduras could potentially irrigate 500,000 ha of agricultural land; however, as of 2000, only 73,000 ha were under irrigation. About 56,000 ha of the irrigated land is held in private arrangements of which about 47,000 ha is actually being watered. The remaining 17,000 ha is publicly held land. The move to privatization began in the 1990s when the Honduran government adopted a policy of privatization and decentralization that included an eventual transfer of irrigation systems to users.
These irrigation system transfers are not being eagerly adopted as farmers have a high preference towards privatization and do not want the added responsibility of system maintenance. The Cortes, Yoro, and Choluteca provinces are the most developed representing ~50,000 ha of irrigated area. In response to the continuous increase in water utilization, a "25-year master plan" is being promoted by the Honduran government for both irrigation and drainage with total investment of US$143 million.
Drainage in Honduras is of utmost importance to the health of citizens, livestock, and agriculture. Geographically situated in the tropics, Honduras receives large totals of rain from powerful storms and hurricanes, and flooding is an important concern. This constant flooding prompted a 1973 program to build canals and aqueducts in an effort to control flood waters and recuperate agricultural land. Figures from 1991 show that construction of canals to convey floodwater away from valuable land have recuperated 42,000 ha in the Sula Valley and 20,00 ha in the Aguán Valley. Drainage problems in Honduras are most prevalent in the Patuca, Aguán, Plátano, Ulúa, and Chamelecón river basins and cover approximately 340,000 ha.
Hydropower