Groundwater in Central America: its importance, development and use, with particular reference to its role in irrigated agriculture.

The objective of this paper is to analyse the actual situation, using limited publicly available data coupled with interviews with key professionals, of groundwater in Central America, emphasizing the utilization of groundwater for agricultural production. The paper is divided into four sections. The first contains a presentation of the Central American regions and examines the availability of water in each of the seven countries (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama), the levels of extraction and the amount of extracted water being used in various ways. The second gives a review of the use of water in agriculture in each of the countries of the region and of the irrigation techniques used. The third describes the existing institutional framework for groundwater management in Central America. The final section highlights the key issues for groundwater management in a region that has yet to experience a 'groundwater revolution' and the parallels with, and divergences from, regions where agricultural groundwater use is already more developed.