Climate Risks in the Low Watershed of the Lempa River

1. Climate Risks in the Low Watershed of the Lempa River El Salvador, Central America

2. Central America: a multi-risks region (1) • Many hydrometeorological and tectonic events records exist and are well known by the public and by institutions. • Regional climate is influenced by the extremes of the SO (El Nino /La Nina events) and the hurricanes surge. • It is located over regional/local scale tectonic faults and with a dense range of volcanoes. It exist a lot of alluvial valleys close to large torrential hydrographic watersheds. • Damages, losses and human deaths; social and institutional responses have been disseminated through generations. • Development models have generated additional vulnerabilities: there are pressing issues related to environment & equity. • Recent economic reforms, namely, privatization, reduction of public administration & descentralization are magnifying vulnerabilities and limiting opportunities to have public entities & local stakeholders involved in defining development policies, plans & programs.

3. Central America: a multi-risks region (2) • During the last 5 years, issues related to disasters relief & prevention became a pressing demand over governments on the part of affected stakeholders. • After hurricane Mitch, governments endorsed a Regional Framework and a Plan for Disasters Prevention and Mitigation. • A PDF, based on that Plan was submitted before the GEF and aproved. However, its approach does not include climate change issues.

4. El Salvador: climate & development policies Climate: • Many inter-seasonal and long-term climatic anomalies producing negative socio-economic impacts. • Sometimes extreme events are magnified by their inter-action with other complex fenomena (e.g.: hurricane Mitch). Development Policies: • Environmental legal and policy frameworks are new and still not fully implemented. • Many public services have been privatized, local actors are assuming a large range of policy and planning decisions. • Traditional planning activities, e.g.: sectoral policies or indicative plans or programs have been eliminated. • Current development context could generate additional vulnerabilities (social, environmental or economic).

5. The Low watershed of the Lempa river: • El Salvador shares the regional central range of mountains-related events of the region. • Impacts of events generated upstream the Lempa river (Guatemala & Honduras) are more severe downstream in ES. • The Lempa watershed determines about 49% of the Salvadoran territory, including the low watershed. • Most of Salvadoran live in tectonic and climate hazards prone areas. Economic activities have generated additional socio-economic risks (landslides, mudslides, floodings). • Alluvial coastal valley has been populated during the 90’s as if it were geologically concluded and stable. • The low watershed is considered a high risk area: a) many communities are located in the area, b) occurrance of frequent disasters, c) most of soils do not infiltrate water when humid & d) agriculture and fisheries are the main economic activities.

6. Floodings in the Low Lempa • The Low Lempa is the natural flood plain of the river. • More than 30,000 people leave and work in that area. • There is an hydropower dam upstream the area. • According to maximun recorded discharges the level and covering of floods and the impacts are different. • Every year agriculture is affected by droughts with moderate to severe intensities: most of the inhabitants in that area have incomes from their crops. Irrigation is adopted at an experimental scale and few cases exist. • During El Nino event fisheries suffer from temperature increases of the sea water along the Pacific coastline: fishermen have no income and have to address the problem on their own. As a result, more deforestation is produced. Droughts