ABSTRACT
The Central American region has experienced a series of historical events guided by political turmoil in the context of the cold war. As a result, more than 60% of the rural population lives under the poverty line and around 40% lives under the extreme poverty line. In both rural and urban areas in Central America, lack of adequate water quantity and quality contributes to poor human health and constrains economic development. Thus, water resources are essential to any attempt to improve basic human health, the economy and standards of living in Central America. In order to efficiently and effectively manage water resources, there is a need to better understand geographic, institutional and economic factors influencing the availability, use and valuation of water resources in Central America. The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of some of these factors. In Section 25.2, some geographic and institutional perspectives and problems related to Central American water supply and demand are presented including a discussion of the general availability and use of ground and surface water in Central America. In Section 25.3, more detail on various services provided by water and techniques for estimating the economic value of these services are discussed. Implications and conclusions are provided in the final section.
