The new Central American and Caribbean water resource centre Hidrocec (Centro de Recursos Hídricos para Centroamérica y el Caribe) will open in Costa Rica in March 2010, local paper La Nación reported. The centre will provide technical assistance to help countries in the region preserve their water resources. Located in Guanacaste province’s Liberia city, Hidrocec will operate under the state-owned college Universidad Nacional (UNA).

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) provided US$500,000 (EUR 366,779) to build the centre, the report said. Hidrocec will oversee the protection and management of surface and underground water; the use and recuperation of basins; the development of technology to treat domestic, industrial and agro-industrial wastewater; and review legislation and the management of water resources. The centre will also offer undergraduate and master’s programmes in water resource management.

Source: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 19 Jan 2010

Tags: capacity development, latin america & caribbean, wastewater treatment, water resources management, water treatment