Report No: aus11011 Central America

Central America

and the Dominican Republic
Regional Assessment
Status of Disaster Risk Management in the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector – Policy Framework and Practice



June 22^th, 2015

Acknowledgements This report summarizes the results of the Economic and Sector Work (ESW) on the “Status of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in the Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Sector – Policy Framework and Practice in Central America and the Dominican Republic.” It responds to a request from the Central American and Dominican Republic Forum for Drinking Water and Sanitation (FOCARD-APS) and would have not been possible without the coordination and analytical inputs of its Regional Thematic Group for Disaster Risk Management (RTG-DRM). It is the result of a concerted effort conducted with financial and technical assistance from the World Bank, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) through its Water and Sanitation Program (AGUASAN) in Central America, and contributions from international and local partners. The RTG-DRM facilitated field visits, data gathering, preparation, and validation of country and regional assessments, and played a critical role in galvanizing consultation and policy dialogue with experts from regional bodies, national institutions, and stakeholders involved in both areas—disaster risk management and climate change adaptation and the water and sanitation sector—in Central America and the Dominican Republic. This effort, framed within the RTG-DRM Action Plan, was coordinated by Luis Carlos Vargas, AyA Costa Rica, with the support of Nancy Pagoada, SANAA Honduras; Ernesto Castellanos, ANDA El Salvador; Carlos Barrios, MSPAS Guatemala; Francisco Reyes, ENACAL; Elda Cruz, MINSA Panama; Tomasa Cañete, IDAAN Panama; and Elvira Segura and Francisca Leyva, INAPA Dominican Republic. The report was prepared by a World Bank team led by Antonio Rodriguez Serrano, senior water and sanitation specialist, and Ana Campos Garcia, senior disaster risk management specialist, with the support of Claudio Osorio, Haris Sanahuja, Carolina Diaz, Christopher J. Chung, Blanca Lopez Alascio, Joseph Narkevic, and David Sobel and advice from Anne T. Kuriakose, senior social development specialist; Diana Rubiano, disaster risk management specialist; Fernando Ramirez, senior disaster risk management specialist; Luis Ernesto, senior hydrology consultant, and Thierry Davy, senior climate change specialist.

Disclaimer

The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are the result of analysis and sector dialogue and do not necessarily reflect the views of the executive directors of the World Bank, the sponsors, or the governments that the participating institutions represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of the World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.

Limitations

The methodology applied for carrying out this analytical work is not intended to establish an assessment model. Rather, it provides a snapshot of the progress made by the FOCARD-APS member countries, aimed at fostering policy dialogue and helping them plan and carry out actions to incorporate disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in WSS policy frameworks and practices in Central America and the Dominican Republic. The guidelines for interviewing WSS institutions combined the analytical framework proposed by Ghesquiere and Mahul (2010) in “Sendai Report: Managing Disaster Risks for a Resilient Future” (2012) and the “Guide to Assess Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation in Sectors” (World Bank 2012), which was adapted to the WSS sector and validated by the RTG-DRM. Parameters were evaluated qualitatively. The report is based on thorough document review, country visits for data collection, and consultation with experts from national institutions and regional bodies. The assessment was validated through national and regional workshops by national institutions and FOCARD-APS.

© 2015 The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program

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Table of Contents

Index of Figures, Tables, and Boxes

List of Abbreviations

Glossary of Key Terms

All terms adopted from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, unless otherwise noted.¹

Adaptation

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects, in order to moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate.

A change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g., by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. Climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcings, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use.

The occurrence of a value of a weather or climate variable above (or below) a threshold value near the upper (or lower) ends of the range of observed values of the variable. An extreme weather event is an event that is above (or below) the 90th or 10th percentile of