Tourism as tragedy? Common problems with water in post-revolutionary Nicaragua

Abstract

This paper examines the increased demand placed on limited water resources by a rapidly growing tourism sector in Playa Gigante, Nicaragua. Results from field campaigns suggest that recharge of the local aquifer may not meet burgeoning tourism demands for water. This paper also points to initial conflicts over water between locals and tourism operations, which are further complicated by ineffective implementation of national water policies and the common pool nature of groundwater. The conclusion discusses the need for more extensive research and better implementation of water policy through community governance and collaboration.

Keywords::

• groundwater
• tourism
• Nicaragua
• conflict

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Cecilia Tortajada and three anonymous referees for their helpful comments. They also wish to thank Alan Vilchez from Rancho Santana for generously providing precipitation data. The views expressed in this article are solely those of G. Thomas LaVanchy and Matthew J. Taylor; the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not formally reviewed this article and does not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07900627.2014.985819

Additional information

Funding

This research was carried out with financial support to the first author from the US Environmental Protection Agency (STAR Fellowship Assistance Agreement No. FP917478); from the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers through the Bernard Nietschmann Award; from the University of Denver through the Graduate Studies Dissertation Fellowship; from the Development Geographies Specialty Group of the AAG through the Gary Gaile Travel Award; and from the Latin American Specialty Group of the AAG through the Field Study Travel Award.