Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Managua (Agenzia Fides) - The inhabitants of the community of Santa Isabel, in the western department of Boaco, Nicaragua, are forced to travel great distances each day to fetch water from streams and ponds because the sources close by have dried up due to the prolonged dry season which this year hit the Central American country, one of the worst droughts in 50 years. It is a problem fueled by climate variability and aggravated by deforestation and the degradation of the territories.
According to information gathered by Fides, in some districts of Managua the drinking water service is active less than two hours a day, during which the inhabitants have to make provision, wash clothes and their already precarious dwellings. Sometimes there is no water for three consecutive days, and state authorities of the Nicaraguan aqueducts are forced to distribute it with tanker trucks. The phenomenon is widespread throughout the country and constitutes a serious threat to the more than 6 million people, particularly those living in rural areas.
According to local sources, some communities in the department of Chinandega, 140 kilometers northwest of Managua, the three rivers that supply water to about 1,300 households dried up during the dry season from November to May. Not everyone has the opportunity to buy water from private vendors. The warning of a new dry season is creating concern for the food and the nutritional situation of the population of so-called Corredor Seco in Nicaragua. The government this year has sent food, water and medicine in this area damaged by drought due to El Niño that cyclically affects the coasts of the Pacific and other regions of Nicaragua. In this country there are two of the main lakes of Central America, Xolotlán, 1052 square kilometers and Cocibolca, 8138 sq km. There are also 26 lagoons, over 100 rivers and 5 of the 19 biggest central basins. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 03/06/2015)
