QCOSTARICA — Due to the El Niño phenomenon, Costa Rica experienced low rainfall conditions in almost the entire country and 2023 ends with a rainfall deficit in almost all regions.
For this reason, the Comisión Nacional de Emergencias (CNE) – National Emergency Commission – asks the population to use water rationally, from this moment on, for the coming months.
“This phenomenon will continue. Specialists reported that this beginning of 2024 comes with a meteorological drought, where sectors such as agriculture and energy are being affected and the situation may worsen,” said Alejandro Picado, president of the CNE.
“For this reason, the institutions are taking actions and I call on the population to make rational use of water,” he requested.
According to experts from the national weather service, the Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), El Niño will reach its maximum intensity between December and January.
Projections show that time is running out to become an extraordinary Niño, as happened in 2015 or 1997.
For now, it would remain strong and not extraordinary in intensity, however, it will have negative effects.
Since October, the CNE raised the status in the national territory from green to yellow alert due to the impact of El Niño.
Also, a dry season is expected with temperatures above normal, between half a degree and one degree Celsius higher.
2023 rainy season
The problem is that this 2023 the rains were less than normal conditions.
“According to the data, the amounts of rain that have occurred in recent months have been very low for what the hydrographic basins really require,” considered Eladio Solano, head of forecasts at the IMN.
“In general, the rains were quite scarce throughout the country, linked to the behavior of the El Niño phenomenon, which was present in most of the 2023 rainy season,” he indicated.
However, there were some important events that gave rise to excess values in specific sectors of the North Pacific. This is another characteristic of the phenomenon.
“I think it was a bad year since this El Niño phenomenon affected small farmers and ranchers a lot,” said Jeiner Flores, a resident of Guanacaste.
“Sectors like San Andrés, Paso Real and Potrero Grande are hard hit by the drought,” he highlighted.
Experts consider that this was the case in the center and north of Guanacaste, but not in the south of the province. For example, Nicoya, Nandayure and Hojancha had normal amounts of rainfall.
“With a lot of deficit are the regions of the Central and South Pacific, the Central Valley, the entire Caribbean and the North zone, they are experiencing meteorological drought,” Solano reported.
“The irregular behavior of the rains generated a drought behavior. Only some areas of the Pacific slope and Central Valley do not,” he added.
Water supply
Precisely, in February of this year during the dry season, Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA) – water and sewer utility – reported an urgent intervention in Guanacaste due to the demand for water.
For example, in Liberia, tanker trucks were used to supply the population, as in other places such as Hojancha and Flamingo.
At that time, AyA authorities referred to an atypical behavior that increased water consumption, influenced by high temperatures and an increase in tourism that coincides with school holidays.
Similar situations of lack of water could be repeated in the coming months.
According to AyA estimates, the most affected areas in 2024 may be:
- North pacific
- North Zone
- Caribbean
- Chorotega
- Greater Metropolitan Area
Electricity increase
On the other hand, this December 19, the increase in electricity rates that will apply from January 2024 became official.
The Aresep, regulator of public prices and services, resolved an increase that ranges between 17.48% and 5.16% for consumers of the distribution system, depending on the company from which the service is purchased.
With this increase, it is intended that the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) recover the additional expense incurred by turning on the thermal production plants, due to the drop in hydroelectric generation due to lack of rain.
In addition, expenses for the same reason are planned for 2024.
As a result of little rain, the flow of rivers and the production of hydroelectric energy decrease.
The level of the reservoirs is also lower, so there is less accumulated water to spin the machines that produce electricity in the plants.
The Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado (Uccaep) – Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector – expressed their concern about this increase.
The business sector considers that not only El Niño pushes this rate upwards, it also points out a series of shortcomings in the public apparatus, such as:
- Not having hired the private generator that were disconnected from the system
- Misuse of the capacity of the Arenal reservoir during the rainy season
- Absence of quorum in Aresep to award new wind and solar energy projects
- Increase in costs for those who produce energy through solar panels.
