ORTEGA MEETS EPA/CDC TEAM

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001030 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR WHA/CEN, HHS FOR OGHA - BSTEIGER AND RCORREA STATE PASS TO EPA/OW - BGRUMBLES AND EPA/OIA - CHILL-MACON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TBIO KSCA EAID PREL NU SUBJECT: ORTEGA MEETS EPA/CDC TEAM REF: MANAGUA 949 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) watershed and wastewater management experts and a Center for Disease Control (CDC) water sanitation expert visited Nicaragua July 21 ) 25 to assess Nicaraguan efforts to protect Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua from contamination and provide advice on how to improve those efforts. This visit fulfilled a commitment Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt and EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin Grumbles made to President Ortega during their visit to Nicaragua in late June. The team's visit culminated with a private meeting at FSLN Headquarters with President Ortega, where President Ortega expressed gratitude for efforts on "issues of importance to the Nicaraguan people," and queried them on topics such as the pan-American canal, tilapia aquaculture, and biofuels. End summary. EPA and CDC Team Fulfill HHS Commitment -------------- ¶2. (U) EPA watershed and wastewater management experts and a CDC water sanitation expert met July 21 ) 25 with Nicaraguan counterparts to assess Nicaraguan efforts to protect Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua from contamination and provide them with advice on how to improve those efforts. This visit fulfilled a commitment Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. Leavitt and EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin Grumbles made to President Ortega during their visit to Nicaragua in late June (Reftel). The team included EPA watershed management expert Bill Cox, CDC water sanitation expert Richard Gelting, and EPA wastewater management expert Antonio Quinones. Nicaragua's "Great Lakes" -------------- ¶3. (U) Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua are the largest lakes in Central America and are viewed by the government as critical to economic development in Nicaragua. Both are located within the San Juan River watershed that approximates one quarter of Nicaragua's total land area and contains 80% of its population. The challenge of protecting these lakes and managing the San Juan River Watershed is enormous. The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) cites urban waste, agricultural waste, deforestation, and poor land management as the primary causes of lake pollution. The city of Managua dumps 120,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater and sewage into Lake Managua daily. The lake is now so polluted that it cannot be used to supply drinking water. Drinking water must be sourced from nearby volcanic lagoons and acquifers. The government estimates that Managua will face water shortages by 2015, and therefore increasingly views Lake Nicaragua as a future source of water for its largest city (population 1.3 million). GON Introduces Team to "Environmental CPC" -------------- ¶4. (U) MARENA Vice Minister Roberto Araquistain took the lead in organizing the agenda, including meetings with Minister of Health Dr. Guillermo Gonzales, President of the National Water Board (ENACAL) Ruth Selma Herrera, and a number of local government officials. Meetings emphasized the importance of Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua, coherently linking water quality, public health, and watershed management concerns. Nicaraguan interlocutors highlighted their interest in receiving additional technical assistance on these issues. Vice Minister Araquistain also introduced EPA watershed management expert Bill Cox to an "environmental brigade" within a Citizens Power Council (CPC) to demonstrate GON efforts to encourage citizen participation in watershed management efforts. CPCs are Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) controlled groups whose purpose is to bring FSLN engagement down to the community level, and in effect supplant independent civil society at the local level. Wastewater, Laboratories, and Watersheds -------------- ¶5. (U) EPA team members visited wastewater treatment plants in Managua with MARENA Minister Juana Argenal and in Granada with MARENA Vice Minister Araquistain. Team members also consulted with GON officials on CAFTA-DR USAID-funded regional harmonization of wastewater regulations. ENACAL President Ruth Selma led a tour of ENACAL's water quality testing laboratory. Health Minister Gonzales guided the team through Nicaraguan health and medical laboratories and emphasized Nicaragua's lack of food quality testing capacity. ¶6. (U) EPA's Bill Cox met with Jaime Incer, President of Fondo Natura, a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization dedicated to sustainable development and environmental conservation, and Salvador Montenegro, the Director of Nicaragua's National Autonomous University's Center for the Investigation of Aquatic Resources (CIRA-UNAN). Both Incer and Montenegro emphasized renewed interest on the part of the GON to improve watershed management, and described their efforts to capitalize on this opportunity. President Ortega: Castor Beans, Biofuels, and Tilapia -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) The team's visit culminated with a private meeting at FSLN Headquarters with President Ortega. Minister of Health Guillermo Gonzales, MARENA Minister Juana Argenal, and MARENA Vice Minister Roberto Araquistain took turns briefing Ortega on the visit. President Ortega expressed gratitude for the team's efforts on "issues of importance to the Nicaraguan people," and was clearly impressed that Secretary Leavitt had followed through so quickly on his promise to send a technical team. ¶8. (SBU) President Ortega then queried EPA's Bill Cox on a variety of topics, including his opinion on a pan-American canal that would incorporate Lake Nicaragua, the environmental impact of tilapia aquaculture in Lake Nicaragua (without referencing an existing U.S. investment at issue), and the use of corn in biofuel production (the subject of harsh public criticism by President Ortega in the recent past). Cox provided careful answers that emphasized the importance of effective regulatory regimes and transparency in decision-making on environmental issues. He emphasized the need to weigh all of the costs and benefits to get a full picture of the environmental impact of a particular farming practice or infrastructure proposal. Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) At one point during the visit, MARENA officials suggested that the team should sign an agreement outlining additional technical assistance before its departure. While we successfully sidestepped this hasty and perhaps politically motivated request, we believe there exists the continuing expectation that additional U.S. technical assistance will be forthcoming. SANDERS