Water resources management in Honduras

Water resources management (WRM) in Honduras is a work in progress and at times has advanced; however, unstable investment and political climates, strong weather phenomena, poverty, lack of adequate capacity, and deficient infrastructures have and will continue to challenge developments to water resource management. The State of Honduras is working on a new General Water Law to replace the 1927 Law on Using National Waters and designed to regulate water use and management. The new water law will also create a Water Authority, and the National Council of Water Resources which will serve as an advising and consultative body.^[1]

Initiatives such as the new 2009 General Water Law and The Water Framework Law (2003) along with international monetary and technical assistance and an increasing global focus on integrated water resources management (IWRM) provide hope that Honduras will be able to protect and manage well, their water resources.

Honduras has abundant water resources as the country is located in the tropics but there in lies another major challenge, Honduras must constantly prepare for and recover from frequent heavy storms and flooding. This became all too evident in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch made land fall on Honduras killing 7,000 people.^[2]

Surface water drains into Honduras' two primary drainage basins; the Atlantic sloping basin representing 82% of the country, and the Pacific sloping basin accounting for the remaining 13% of Honduras. Together, these two basins drain 106,714 km2 per year. Honduras has ample water availability with annual renewable water resources at 13,766 m³ per capital well above the world per capita average of 8,467 m³ per year or other Latin American countries at 6,739 m³ per year.^[2]