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Playa Potrero in Guanacaste is a quiet beach community that many real estate analysts believe could turn into the one of the most lucrative luxury resort and housing markets in Costa Rica. It was in this community where members of Fuerza Publica, Costa Rica’s national police force, stormed the offices of the local water utility and environmental development office (Spanish acronym: ASADA) on Friday, February 8th.
This is the first show of force in the ongoing battle over water in Guanacaste, and it may not be the last. The police officers who took down doors and broke padlocks to gain access to the ASADA offices in Playa Potrero carried out a court order that took water management rights away from local residents and turned them over to the national, government-run Water and Aqueducts (Spanish initials: AyA).
As reported by Fiorella Valle of online Guanacaste news site Primero en Noticias, the order came from an administrative court. The ASADA has allegedly engaged in a bit of civil disobedience in the past over certain administrative decisions. At the heart of the conflict are claims by the AyA that the ASADA lacks the ability to provide water to major luxury real estate development projects such as Las Catalinas. The ASADA has the support of local residents in this regard and took AyA to court in order to block them, which resulted in an unfavorable judgment.
Primero en Noticias quoted Marie-Cecile Beal, a beach resident who described the situation:
“The community of Playa Potrero has been a victim of government violence. The AyA took the community water utility by force; the way they took over the ASADA office was incredible.”
Water is Guanacaste‘s most treasured and contentious resource. Critics of the ongoing real estate and tourism wave of development argue that Costa Rica’s Gold Coast was not prepared to handle the exploitation it has experienced in the 21st century.
There is no question that business development has been impressive in the region, but people who oppose it often question whether it is a good idea to build theme parks, hotels, golf courses, swimming pools, and even water parks in a region where shortages and contamination have always presented a major challenge.
AyA believes that effective water management can be accomplished in Guanacaste, but it will come at a cost to local residents. Up until the late 20th century, the population of Playa Protero relied on fishing and agriculture.
Like other communities in Costa Rica, this quiet beach town was discovered by tourists and expats, which prompted construction of a few new homes and small hotels that could be supplied with water from the two underground wells. Development has placed further water demands and calls for augmenting the aqueduct, which translates into higher monthly bills for water usage.
At a time when Guanacaste’s agricultural workers are being displaced by the burgeoning tourism and real estate industry, the AyA takeover of the ASADA in Playa Potrero is a reminder that Costa Rica is rapidly changing.
