Nicaragua Lake Environmental Threats

The Cocibolca faces three main pollution problems. Although each one is so far possible to control or eliminate, to achieve this requires a lot of organization and commitment by all authorities involved and the general population.

The first major problem and source of contamination to the waste Cocibolca are settled in urban areas throughout the basin. Despite the obvious pollution of this is, big cities such as Granada, Rivas and Juigalpa, and dozens of other small coastal towns, even dump their sewage, municipal sewage or industrial waste into the lake, either directly or through rivers that flow into it. Alongside this, the coastal areas of these towns are covered by putrescible solid waste or non-biodegradable.

The second major problem is related to agricultural production in coastal areas. Nicaragua is a highly productive and fertile shores of the lake are an ideal site for crop and livestock activities. From the shores of Chontales, Boaco and Rivas, cattle farms generally do not provide any protection of the lake, which contaminated with large amounts of sediment and fertilizers (manure). Moreover, and this is even more harmful, near the farms are causing the poisoning of water and sediments of the lake due to the use of agrochemicals, which are carried by rivers or streams and natural drainage. This second problem has a greater impact in the south of the lake, both crops in the coastal zone in the nearby Nicaraguan farms from neighboring Costa Rica, from where they come from rivers that flow into the Cocibolca.

The third major and controversial problem of pollution is due to the newly introduced foreign fish production in floating cages in the waters of the lake. Although foreign-owned enterprise to that activity was able to obtain necessary government permits and has begun production from there has always been an open rejection and criticism by environmental activity, social and community organizations. The problem, say critics, is that the enormous amount of fish Tilapia also produces a large amount of stool is broken down into the lake and, under some biologists, tilapia carries diseases that are very harmful to native fishes unprepared to face them.

Currently it is very necessary to achieve the national authorities to implement measures that will overcome these identified problems, and many other problems that are linked to them. Already some organizations and entities are speaking and promoting the protection of Nicaragua Lake, but this issues need to take an important place in the national agenda.

In addition to the tourism potential of the Lake, is also seen as an important future source of drinking water for domestic consumption and for export. Research Center for Aquatic Resources (CIRA-UNAN) noted in a document that the download Cocibolca cubic 478 meters per second across the Rio San Juan (data recorded by the Nicaraguan Institute of Territorial Studies - INETER), ie , 41.3 million per day. If a similar volume of treated water could be sold in the future, the lake would become an important and renewable source of foreign exchange. With this argument, the CIRA calls not allow contamination of the lake by companies and private producers.

Today, UNESCO received by the government of Nicaragua a petition to declare the great Lake Nicaragua or Cocibolca as a World Heritage Site, which the authorities are very excited about the hundreds of municipalities in the basin. It is necessary that these national and local authorities, and every Nicaraguan foreign appreciate the Cocibolca and get excited about taking action to protect it from threats.