Groundbreaking local water law in Honduras

Water is a human right

“Since 2010, all UN member states acknowledge ‘the right to water’ as a basic human right”, says Sanderijn. “This means that every person in the world has the right to clean and safe water. But it doesn’t end there. Governments should incorporate this right in their local and national legislation and policies, so that people can truly claim it. In 2013, Honduras incorporated the right to water in their national constitution, but its enforcement is still lagging behind.”

Illegal licenses

Since the coup of 2009 there have been increasingly heavy conflicts over the distribution of water. On a large scale, the national government has been giving – often illegal – licenses to powerful businesses for mining, tourist activities or the construction of large -scale dams. Such activities put an enormous strain on rivers; water has become less and less available, and it is also being severely polluted. This is very damaging to the inhabitants of the area – especially fishermen and farmers – who depend on the river for their livelihoods.

People’s representatives for water

“Just like several other Central-American countries, Honduras has so-called water committees, which are water boards with representatives from the community. It’s a unique system, because it enables local residents to become involved and influence decisions regarding water management. Unfortunately, under the current regime in Honduras, the committees have increasingly less say in the matter. That is why ARCA, our partner organisation in Central-America, since last year has been helping water committees  to advocate for water policies which also take into account the needs of local communities. ARCA has trained the participating committees to design strategic plans to influence policy. To achieve this, a decent problem analysis had to be made, as well as a clear understanding of the current legislation, and which stakeholders are involved.”

Practical plans

An association of water committees has brought this strategic plan into practice in the region Atlántida. There, the water supply – and with it, the livelihoods of around 40.000 people - is being threatened by hydroelectric power stations and heavily polluting mining. Based on already existing land and water legislation, the association has come up with its own proposals for better governance and usage of land and water. For example, use of water by people is to be prioritized over commercial use, mining-free zones should be implemented, and so-called ‘micro-basin areas’ should be registered as protected areas.

Success

The water committees presented their plans to local authorities and representatives of the Ministry of Environment, and also organised roundtable talks with authorities and communities. After several months of negotiations, two municipalities (El Porvenir and San Francisco) accepted the plan last year. Local legislation now says that water for human consumption should have priority over others, and that micro-stream areas in the region are to be protected. And in the municipality of La Masica, mine-free zones have been set up to prevent the river from being polluted and degraded.

Milestone

Local communities can now use the local law to truly enforce their right to water, which has been acknowledged by the national government. Yet, the question of whether this law will be truly lived up to in practice, remains. While the national government must respect local regulation, this is not always the case: corruption and pressure from large companies are the order of the day in Honduras. Sanderijn: “But perhaps that is the largest milestone indeed: the fact that these water committees, with help from ARCA – and despite corruption and intimidation – have achieved this result!”

Both ENDS has been working with ARCA for years on so-called ‘participatory water governance’ in which all stakeholders can influence the decision-making process for water policy. This project, too, we have supported in terms of finances and content, by actively thinking about how ARCA can achieve the best result.

Information about ARCA

What does Both ENDS do on participatory water management?

photo: Kristin Klein op Flickr