University of Georgia
Costa Rica Water Resources II
Every Drop Counts: Developing a Water Budget for Costa Rica

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>> Ambassador to Costa Rica: Water is one of Costa Rica's most 
valuable resources so it is critical that we use it wisely.
Over the past three years, the Guanacaste province 
has experienced severe drought conditions, complicating 
water management and agricultural production. 
With the support of our embassy of Costa Rica in 
Washington and in coordination with our ministry 
of foreign affairs in Costa Rica, a DEVELOP team was created 
to help incorporate NASA's Earth Observations into a 
responsive water management action plan. 

>> Javier Artiñano Guzman: My name is Javier Artiñano Guzman. 
I work for SENARA in Costa Rica. SENARA is Costa Rica's 
National Service of Underground Water, Irrigation, and Drainage. 
We are responsible for water management and help 
coordinate water usage with agricultural and 
environmental agencies of Costa Rica. 
The Arenal-Tempisque Irrigation District is in the Guanacaste 
Province and is our biggest project, providing irrigation services to 
over one thousand direct users and 28,000 hectares. This includes 
from small-scale farmers to large agricultural fields. 

>> EDUARDO RENDON: In order to help out Javier 
and our partners, our team created a SWAT model.
SWAT was used to simulate the local hydrology, and 
we used its outputs to construct an updated water 
inventory for the region.

>> XUAN ZHANG: We calibrated and validated the model 
with SWAT-CUP software by using local stream gauge data.
SWAT was the ideal modeling software because it was 
designed to help evaluate the effects of different 
water management decisions and alternative land 
management practices on a large scale watershed. 

>> KAMALAKANTA SAHOO: Our team also estimated 
evapotranspiration using MOD16 global data from 
NASA’s MODIS sensor to supplement the SWAT outputs. 
This MOD 16 product accounts for the movement of water 
from vegetation and soil to the atmosphere which is 
crucial for calculating the water budget of a lush and 
diversely vegetated region like Costa Rica. 

>> VERONICA FAY: The hydrological outputs produced by SWAT 
are meaningful because they give you an idea of what the water 
Balance Ratios are for the watershed. 
It also generates other valuable information for the study area, 
such as the Average Curve Number, which tells you the likelihood of 
whether the water will infiltrate into the ground or flow over the 
land as runoff.  

>> CAREN REMILLARD: Our team also focused on developing a methodology 
that our partners can replicate by creating video tutorials and using 
readily available products. The SWAT and the ArcSWAT interface are public 
domain software and incorporate data that are made freely available by 
NASA and the USGS.

>> STEVE PADGETT-VASQUEZ: After our data hand-off, Javier and SENARA 
will be able to continuously update their water budget. More importantly, 
they'll be able to apply this methodology to other irrigation districts, 
making sure every drop of water counts. 

[Credits]