VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMU #1030/01 2251451
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 121451Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANAGUA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3015
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001030 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CEN, HHS FOR OGHA - BSTEIGER AND RCORREA 
STATE PASS TO EPA/OW - BGRUMBLES AND EPA/OIA - CHILL-MACON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV TBIO KSCA EAID PREL NU
SUBJECT: ORTEGA MEETS EPA/CDC TEAM 
 
REF: MANAGUA 949 
 
Summary 
------- 

¶1. (SBU) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) watershed and 
wastewater management experts and a Center for Disease 
Control (CDC) water sanitation expert visited Nicaragua July 
21 ) 25 to assess Nicaraguan efforts to protect Lake Managua 
and Lake Nicaragua from contamination and provide advice on 
how to improve those efforts.  This visit fulfilled a 
commitment Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael O. 
Leavitt and EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Benjamin 
Grumbles made to President Ortega during their visit to 
Nicaragua in late June.  The team's visit culminated with a 
private meeting at FSLN Headquarters with President Ortega, 
where President Ortega expressed gratitude for efforts on 
"issues of importance to the Nicaraguan people," and queried 
them on topics such as the pan-American canal, tilapia 
aquaculture, and biofuels. End summary. 
 
EPA and CDC Team Fulfill HHS Commitment 
---------------------------------------- 

¶2. (U) EPA watershed and wastewater management experts and a 
CDC water sanitation expert met July 21 ) 25 with Nicaraguan 
counterparts to assess Nicaraguan efforts to protect Lake 
Managua and Lake Nicaragua from contamination and provide 
them with advice on how to improve those efforts.  This visit 
fulfilled a commitment Secretary of Health and Human Services 
Michael O. Leavitt and EPA Assistant Administrator for Water 
Benjamin Grumbles made to President Ortega during their visit 
to Nicaragua in late June (Reftel).  The team included EPA 
watershed management expert Bill Cox, CDC water sanitation 
expert Richard Gelting, and EPA wastewater management expert 
Antonio Quinones. 
 
Nicaragua's "Great Lakes" 
------------------------- 

¶3. (U) Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua are the largest lakes 
in Central America and are viewed by the government as 
critical to economic development in Nicaragua.  Both are 
located within the San Juan River watershed that approximates 
one quarter of Nicaragua's total land area and contains 80% 
of its population.  The challenge of protecting these lakes 
and managing the San Juan River Watershed is enormous.  The 
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARENA) cites 
urban waste, agricultural waste, deforestation, and poor land 
management as the primary causes of lake pollution.  The city 
of Managua dumps 120,000 cubic meters of untreated wastewater 
and sewage into Lake Managua daily.  The lake is now so 
polluted that it cannot be used to supply drinking water. 
Drinking water must be sourced from nearby volcanic lagoons 
and acquifers.  The government estimates that Managua will 
face water shortages by 2015, and therefore increasingly 
views Lake Nicaragua as a future source of water for its 
largest city (population 1.3 million). 
 
GON Introduces Team to "Environmental CPC" 
------------------------------------------ 

¶4. (U) MARENA Vice Minister Roberto Araquistain took the lead 
in organizing the agenda, including meetings with Minister of 
Health Dr. Guillermo Gonzales, President of the National 
Water Board (ENACAL) Ruth Selma Herrera, and a number of 
local government officials.  Meetings emphasized the 
importance of Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua, coherently 
linking water quality, public health, and watershed 
management concerns.  Nicaraguan interlocutors highlighted 
their interest in receiving additional technical assistance 
on these issues.  Vice Minister Araquistain also introduced 
EPA watershed management expert Bill Cox to an "environmental 
brigade" within a Citizens Power Council (CPC) to demonstrate 
GON efforts to encourage citizen participation in watershed 
management efforts.  CPCs are Sandinista National Liberation 
Front (FSLN) controlled groups whose purpose is to bring FSLN 
engagement down to the community level, and in effect 
supplant independent civil society at the local level. 
 
Wastewater, Laboratories, and Watersheds 
---------------------------------------- 

¶5. (U) EPA team members visited wastewater treatment plants 
in Managua with MARENA Minister Juana Argenal and in Granada 
with MARENA Vice Minister Araquistain. Team members also 
consulted with GON officials on CAFTA-DR USAID-funded 
regional harmonization of wastewater regulations. ENACAL 
President Ruth Selma led a tour of ENACAL's water quality 
testing laboratory.  Health Minister Gonzales guided the team 
through Nicaraguan health and medical laboratories and 
emphasized Nicaragua's lack of food quality testing capacity. 
 
¶6. (U) EPA's Bill Cox met with Jaime Incer, President of 
Fondo Natura, a Nicaraguan nongovernmental organization 
dedicated to sustainable development and environmental 
conservation, and Salvador Montenegro, the Director of 
Nicaragua's National Autonomous University's Center for the 
Investigation of Aquatic Resources (CIRA-UNAN).  Both Incer 
and Montenegro emphasized renewed interest on the part of the 
GON to improve watershed management, and described their 
efforts to capitalize on this opportunity. 
 
President Ortega:  Castor Beans, Biofuels, and Tilapia 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 

¶7. (SBU) The team's visit culminated with a private meeting 
at FSLN Headquarters with President Ortega.  Minister of 
Health Guillermo Gonzales, MARENA Minister Juana Argenal, and 
MARENA Vice Minister Roberto Araquistain took turns briefing 
Ortega on the visit.  President Ortega expressed gratitude 
for the team's efforts on "issues of importance to the 
Nicaraguan people," and was clearly impressed that Secretary 
Leavitt had followed through so quickly on his promise to 
send a technical team. 
 
¶8. (SBU) President Ortega then queried EPA's Bill Cox on a 
variety of topics, including his opinion on a pan-American 
canal that would incorporate Lake Nicaragua, the 
environmental impact of tilapia aquaculture in Lake Nicaragua 
(without referencing an existing U.S. investment at issue), 
and the use of corn in biofuel production (the subject of 
harsh public criticism by President Ortega in the recent 
past).  Cox provided careful answers that emphasized the 
importance of effective regulatory regimes and transparency 
in decision-making on environmental issues.  He emphasized 
the need to weigh all of the costs and benefits to get a full 
picture of the environmental impact of a particular farming 
practice or infrastructure proposal. 
 
Comment 
------- 

¶9. (SBU) At one point during the visit, MARENA officials 
suggested that the team should sign an agreement outlining 
additional technical assistance before its departure.  While 
we successfully sidestepped this hasty and perhaps 
politically motivated request, we believe there exists the 
continuing expectation that additional U.S. technical 
assistance will be forthcoming. 
SANDERS