International Waters learning Exchange & Resource Network

Formulation of a Strategic Action Programme for the Integrated Management of Water Resources and Sustainable Development of the San Juan River Basin and its Coastal Zone (PROCUENCA) - Results

GEF IDS: 791

Ecosystem
River

Scale
Regional

Information sources
UNEP Terminal Evaluation (2005)

Key Basin Project Results
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Results data
Regional legal agreements and cooperation frameworks
Year: N/A - Value: NO
It can be concluded that the relevant authorities of both countries have been very active in finding ways to better coordinate and subscribe to binational agreements.
Regional Management Institutions
Year: N/A - Value: NO
Component 5 is understood as all the actions taken to promote the formation of national and bi-national bodies in the political arena, such as the technical and administrative organizations to carry on the SJRB projects in a coordinated manner. In nine years of activities, 19 international, 14 community and 14 private organizations have participated in project activities. It is also understood that there has been considerable progress in these aspects with the participation of both Ministries of Foreign Affairs and with MARENA and MINAE coordinating more than 221 institutions and organizations directly involved in the execution of these activities. These included representation of 97 federal government organizations, 29 NGOs, 22 private companies, 20 local governments and municipalities and 8 press and media organizations. This process required the signature of 24 memorandum and 12 letters of understanding and 4 agreements (Ref. 17, p. 6). Such large numbers of organizations involved raises the question: “How is the Project supervised and monitored?”
National/Local reforms
Year: N/A - Value: NO
Component 6 had the purpose of forming basin councils. No basin councils have been formed. Instead, the project has directed efforts towards strengthening municipal coordination. It appears that there were no clear proposals of what to expect and how to design and create basin councils. As in other countries, there are frequently conflicts in the creation of bodies for the management of areas having natural boundaries that are based on cooperation among organizations created in a politically-defined context.
Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis: Agreement on transboundary priorities and root causes
Year: N/A - Value: YES
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Development of Strategic Action Program (SAP)
Year: N/A - Value: NO
The draft SAP document presented in September 2004 (Ref. 20) is very extensive and descriptive. It defines most of what needs to be done in the area for the conservation of natural resources and for the reduction of the primary problems in the San Juan River Basin (SJRB). While this lacks the specifications of a project that can be directly implemented, this is not altogether inappropriate because such specifications are intended to be contained in the finalized SAP, due to be completed in early 2005. A Medium Sized GEF Project is to be proposed for activities in 2005-2007 (see Refs. 17 and 18) as an intermediate bridge to the next full GEF project phase. There are results and impacts of the current project, both within the information component and within the so-called “demonstration projects”, that have demonstrated, through experience, the possibilities of the two countries6 working together towards a common purpose. This is a very important and major indirect benefit stemming from several of the project activities as distinct from their direct results and outputs.
An analysis of the TDA was completed as part of this evaluation with the conclusion that the TDA provides an excellent basis for the development of the strategic Action Programme. Previous work by the OAS played an important role in the development of the TDA. However, there were some limitations related to the information system used in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Data collection was fraught with difficulties to the point where the process was abandoned and then restarted. As a result, the most important analysis related to hydrology, and water resources and both countries suffered due to limited availability of data.