Nicaragua Project Details 2005

Project Number: NIC 001

Water and Sanitation Projects in Ciudad Darío region, Matagalpa province, Nicaragua 2004-05

In August of 2004 Blue Planet Run approved a request for project funding from El Porvenir and provided $17,366 for a series of water and latrine projects in two rural communities in Nicaragua.

Program objective:
The goal of the project was to improve access to potable water and to provide access to sanitary facilities for the residents of two rural communities in Nicaragua,.
The proposal included a well rehabilitation and the construction of 39 new latrines in the village of Dulce Nombre de Jesus, and the construction of three new wells and 22 new latrines in the village of San Esteban.

Status
All of these projects have been completed with the exception of the third well in San Esteban. This third well has been dug, water has been found, and the community is at present in the process of lining the well, building the ring and top, and installing the rope pump.

The projects have come in under budget, and the remaining funds have been applied to a third project in El Chagüite.

 

1. Dulce Nombre de Jesús

The large sanitation project in Dulce Nombre was carried out in two phases, each of 39 latrines, for a total of 78. The well rehabilitation project in Dulce Nombre, which consisted of cleaning out and deepening the well, constructing a cover and installing a sanitary rope pump, was completed in September of 2004. The well served the community adequately from that time through early December. However the rainy season ends in November, and in a short period of time the well failed. Instead of providing 5 or more 5-gallon buckets of water per day per family, the well’s capacity dropped to only a few buckets per day total. As this amount of water could not be fairly divided among the 90 families who sought water at this rehabilitated well, the community decided to remove the pump from the well to prevent discord and/or damage. They hope for recharge during the rainy season which has just begun (May), and will re-install the pump if the well recovers as expected.

One problem of this well is the number of families it is serving. The community of Dulce Nombre de Jesus is large by rural Nicaraguan standards: 160 families make up this community, of which 70 use the other sources and approximately 90 families use the well rehabbed with Blue Planet funds. The ENACAL (government water agency) norm for population to be served by a hand dug well is 6 to 10 families. Therefore the Dulce Nombre well is under considerable stress. The two other water sources for the other 70 families of Dulce Nombre include a private well which serves only a few families, and an unimproved spring which serves everyone else. While the spring could be improved, it would not constitute a new water source (nor did the present project; it was a hygienic improvement requested by the community for the only public well available to them).

The underlying problem of Dulce Nombre, and of a large number of the rural villages in the Darío region, is that of a falling water table. This problem can only be resolved by reduction of deforestation and increase in reforestation, and/or by drilling wells into deeper aquifers. El Porvenir does not have the resources or technical expertise to undertake drilled wells, but addresses the problems of forest resources through two ongoing programs: construction of ecofogons to reduce cooking firewood use, and development of village nurseries and protected plantations of seedlings to conserve the microwatersheds around the project villages. Dulce Nombre will be participating in El Porvenir’s reforestation project this year.

This community has repeatedly solicited ENACAL for a drilled well. ENACAL has responded that they would put this community on the list for drilled wells if they obtained 100% letrinification. With the completion of the latrine project financed by Blue Planet Run, Dulce Nombre now qualifies for an ENACAL perforated well and the villagers hope that this year the drilling rig will come to the community. A successful deep drilled well (or two or three) could resolve this large community’s water problem, together with the El Porvenir well and other existing sources.

2. San Esteban

This village of 78 families, living in 70 homes, is very dispersed, strung out along a series of hills linked by footpaths. It is called San Esteban #2 to distinguish it from another San Esteban within the Municipality of Ciudad Darío in another part of the township. San Esteban #2 benefited years ago from a self help sanitation project which financed 57 latrines. At present 31 of these older latrines are full and cannot be used; the remaining 26 still have several years of useful life. During the ensuing years since the original community latrine project was constructed, 13 new families have been added to the village, giving a deficit of 44 latrines. To meet the total deficit of 44 latrines, the community requested a two-phase latrine project. Blue Planet Run financed the first phase of 22 latrines. The second phase is scheduled for the last half of 2005. The latrines in each phase are distributed throughout the three sectors.

San Esteban also benefited 6 years ago from a water project jointly funded and developed by UNICEF and El Porvenir. What began as a hand dug well project turned into a spring capture project when the diggers hit a powerful and opulent vein of water. This spring capture system originally was designed to serve all three sectors by means of four public spigots, but the water source has decreased seriously after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, which caused relocation of many rivers and aquifers; the system now serves only 24 families. There is also an old perforated well which still functions, also serving these same 24 families. The three wells financed by Blue Planet Run will serve a total of 54 families, 26 in Sector I, 4 in Sector II, and 24 in Sector III.

Total number of families and persons benefited by these projects is as follows:
San Esteban, wells and latrines: 54 families, 225 persons, benefit from the three new wells. The 25 families who benefit from the 22 new latrines are included among these 54 water beneficiary families.
Dulce Nombre, well and latrines: 90 families, an estimated 457 persons, benefit from the well. The 39 families who benefit from the latrines are among these 50 families.
In each project, the sanitation part of the project is protecting the quality of the water source as well as improving public health by reducing vector transmission of diseases.
The total cost per person for clean water and sanitation in these projects is $23.54 for 682 persons. If approval is given to use the balance of funds for El Chagüite, this total will be $23.98 per person for 730 persons.

3. El Chagüite

The village of El Chagüite, in an area of the municipality near San Esteban, has a well which was drilled 7 years ago which is still functioning, and of the 32 houses, 24 still have functioning latrines built at the same time the well was drilled. The other 8 latrines are full and can no longer be used. Three new families have also been added to the village in the years since the original sanitation project, giving a total deficit of 11 latrines. One of the houses in this project is occupied by two families, therefore the total number of beneficiary families is 12, and the total number of persons to benefit is 48. This project is selected for submission to Blue Planet Run because it has no donor or sponsor and because the cost of the latrine project is within the amount of the balance of the grant. In this project as in San Esteban and Dulce Nombre, the sanitation project protects an existing water source as well as improving community health by reducing vector transmission of diseases carried in fecal matter.