Evening weather promises
more moisture for today


A fog or mist swept over much of the Central Valley Wednesday night, showing clearly that there is plenty of moisture in the air.

The hot morning weather today will convert that moisture to clouds and afternoon thundershowers.

The rains started a bit early Wednesday. Thunderstorms dotted the Central Valley by noon. But the best that the weather could deliver was less than an inch.  The Instituto Meteorológico Nacional in Barrio Aranjuez recorded just two-thirds of an inch or 16.9 millimeters.

The weather institute said that there will be electrical storms today on the Pacific coast, the Central Valley, the mountains of the Caribbean and the northern zone.

Also predicted are showers in the evening.

Farmers and those concerned with generating electricity with hydro power are hoping for a prolonged period of steady rains in the coming weeks.


Loss of half of nation's water
is fault of public officials

Dear A.M. Costa Rica:

So far it has been a dry rainy season in Central America, and water reserves are low;  Panamá has declared a drought and has closed schools and reduced government functions in an attempt to cut the consumption of electricity generated from its hydroelectric plants due to low reservoir levels. 

As of the date of this writing, the Costa Rican government has warned that we are facing possible, widespread water rationing – and there have already been some communities that have had their water service suspended for varying amounts of time

It’s an easy target to claim that the less than normal rainfall is a byproduct of global warming (or climate change if you prefer that term) and is that possibly true.  But there is another culprit afoot much closer to home which is having a major, but largely ignored, impact on the Costa Rican water supply reserves.  In a single word, it is mismanagement.

In a 2009 WHO/UNICEF report, the "Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, 2010 Estimates,"  it was noted that “non-revenue water ("water losses") in Costa Rican water companies is high, as most systems are operating with losses usually over 50 percent, a value which reflects a high level of inefficiency . . .”   By comparison, in the USA a loss of 3 percent is considered acceptable and a loss rate approaching 7 percent is serious and cause for investigation.

What does this mean in simple terms?  It means that over one-half of the drinking water that enters the system in Costa Rica never reaches the consumer.  Where does it go?  It runs freely in the streets!

We all have witnessed water flowing in the gutters from the leaks, whether it be spraying in the air from a major rupture or from seeping up through the streets.  Those leaks may continue for days, even weeks, and when we see them they singly don’t appear significant.  But collectively, when considered on a nationwide basis, it is a lot of water that is being wasted!  And it is all due to mismanagement of the resource – mismanagement which trickles down from the highest levels to the maintenance crews in the street who effect inadequate and shoddy repairs on the existing leaks, resulting in them continuing or recurring only a short time later.

Who is ultimately responsible?  That’s an easy question to answer; let’s begin with two simple facts:

1) The Costa Rican water company, AyA (Instituto Nacional de Acueductos y Alcantarillados) is the provider of drinking water services to the population.  In areas where AyA does not provide service, there are local rural water administration boards called ASADAs.  These associations, of which there are more than 2,000 around the country, function as non-profit organizations under the legal framework of the law on associations.  Both AyA and the ASADAs are tasked with the operation and maintenance of water supply systems and communal sewage.  These organizations are based in the Constitutive Act of AyA No. 2726, Regulation of ASADAS-Executive Decree No. 32529-S-, and MINAET and Associations Act No. 218.

2)  Public documents reveal that the economic regulation of the major service providers – AyA and ASADAS – is the responsibility of the regulatory authority for public services (ARESEP). Created in 1999, ARESEP is responsible for tariff setting, setting technical regulations, and monitoring the compliance with those regulations.  Additionally, the responsibility for water and sanitation policy is shared by the ministry of health and the ministry of environment and energy.

So who is responsible?  Ultimately, it is the national government via the regulating bodies who are accountable for the standards of compliance set for AyA and ASADAs . . . and the mismanagement of AyA and the ASADAs themselves.

It’s pretty hard to point a meaningful finger at organizations as large and tenuous as agencies as these.  But what it comes down to is that those organizations are managed by people.  And it is those people, those officials and executives who are responsible for the efficient operation of the organizations, which are mismanaging the resource by allowing a continuing, widespread leakage problem, a problem that results in over 50 percent of the water supply being wasted.

It’s too late to forestall the water rationing that is already happening.  But it’s not too late to start holding those persons who are in positions of management responsible for preventing a future need for water rationing, should climatic events again result in a supply (rainfall) shortage.  And the time to start that is now. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Dickinson credits some of his information to the Puriscal Times.


Venezuela's economy heads
for some drastic change


In Venezuela, the laws of supply and demand are undermining the socialist revolution started by the late President Hugo Chávez.  Since Chavez’s hand-picked successor Nicolas Maduro won the Venezuelan presidential election in April by a margin of less than 2 percent high inflation and a shortage of staple goods are now leading many on both sides of this politically divided country to question whether its current economic course is sustainable.

Recently, toilet paper has been in short supply in Venezuela.  The situation improved only after the national assembly approved funding to increase needed foreign imports.  Shortages of staple goods have become common occurrences in this rich country with the third-largest oil reserves in the world.  Many economists blame the socialist policies of the late President Hugo Chávez.  He instituted price controls on some products to curb inflation, resulting in both reduced domestic production and high inflation after the controls were lifted. Currency exchange controls have also restricted foreign imports.

Latin American analyst Diana Negroponte, with the Brookings Institution, says this is a crisis for newly elected President Maduro who must impose free-market reforms before the economy implodes or face dire political consequences. 

“If he pursues the ideological outcome, he is destined to fail. And rumbling of protests from within his own party will lead to impeachment," said Negroponte.

However, Mark Weisbrot with the Center for Economic and Policy Research, says all that is needed to end scarcity and stabilize the nearly 30 percent rate of inflation is easing currency exchange controls.
 
“This isn’t the hyper-inflation or anything like this. They’ve hit this rate of inflation before and it came down. You know if you look at the last quarter of last year, right before that inflation was running at an annual rate of 13.3 percent," said Weisbrot.

Increased political polarization is also fueling the current crisis.  Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles continues to contest the close election results. Maduro has rejected a vote recount but some of his recent appointments, like Finance Minister Nelson Merentes, indicate he is open to pragmatic change. Still, Mark Schneider with the International Crisis Group says Maduro must do more, including appointing opposition members to the cabinet.

“Something needs to be dialogue, consensus, reconciliation, and some degree of accommodation when you have half of the country on one side of the divide and the other half on the other side of the divide and the economic situation is deteriorating," said Schneider.

In post-Chavez Venezuela, he says, both sides of the political aisle must put the national interest over partisan concerns to deal with problems that affect rich and poor alike.


NASA experiments with food
that comes from 3D printer


Astronauts on future missions to Mars may be able to dial up a pizza via a 3D printer.

NASA announced it awarded a $125,000 grant to Systems & Materials Research Corp.’s Anjan Contractor, who has already designed the printer.

The head of the printer will be fed with a combination of nutrients, water, oils and flavors, which can be sprayed, layer by layer to create three dimensional food. The base ingredients could have a shelf life of up to 30 years.

The first test: printing a pizza.

According to a proposal posted on the NASA Web site in March, “the 3D printing component will deliver macronutrients [starch, protein, and fat], structure, and texture while the ink jet will deliver micronutrients, flavor, and smell.”

“Using unflavored macronutrients, such as protein, starch and fat, the sustenance portion of the diet can be rapidly produced in a variety of shapes and textures directly from the 3D printer [already warm],” according to the proposal.

The biggest advantage to 3D food printing, NASA says, is that there is no waste.

According to the NASA proposal, printing food could have applications beyond space.

Citing projections of the world’s population reaching 12 billion by the end of the century, NASA said “current infrastructure of food production and supply will not be able to meet the demand of such a large population.”