Costa Rica

CRI-001-M: Drinking water and sanitation programme

In July 2024, the only active FCAS programme in Costa Rica was completed. This is the Drinking Water and Sanitation Programme -CRI-001-M, managed with the collaboration of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This action was supported by a grant of €13.6 million from the FCAS and a local contribution of almost €50 million. Other entities additionally contributed a further €245 million in grants and reimbursable funding.

This has enabled more than 53,000 people to benefit from access to drinking water. In addition, as many as 27,219 people received water awareness training and nearly a thousand accessed water management training courses.

Since its inception, this programme has supported the rehabilitation of six rural aqueducts in some of the most disadvantaged regions of the country, such as San José de Upala, Santa Rosa de Pocosol, Los Chiles and the Malecu indigenous territory in Guatuso. The last of the interventions was officially inaugurated in May 2024 and consisted of the extension and rehabilitation works of the integrated aqueduct of Puerto Viejo and La Virgen de Sarapiquí, in the province of Heredia. A renovation that has made it possible to supply drinking water to communities that did not have this service and has improved the supply for the population that already received it. The new structure benefited some 17,700 inhabitants and represents one of the largest investments made in the last decade.