Green travel guide

Climate Resilience in Costa Rica: Community Water, Mangroves and Watersheds

In Costa Rica, climate resilience mostly means local work: community water boards called ASADAS rationing and protecting water through droughts, crews restoring mangroves on the southern Pacific coast, and watershed groups in Guanacaste helping land soak up rain. The strong 2026 El Niño showed both sides of the problem, with 74 Pacific-side communities rationing water while parts of the Caribbean flooded.

By Pura-Verde.com Editors · Published October 30, 2026 · Last checked October 30, 2026

Best for

Travelers, students and residents who want to understand how Costa Rican communities are adapting to drought, heavy rain and coastal change.

Where

Guanacaste and the Nicoya Peninsula (water and dry forest), the Térraba-Sierpe wetland and Osa (mangroves), and San José's urban rivers.

2026 snapshot

In September 2026, 32 community water boards reported rationing in 74 communities, affecting about 6,525 connections.

National framework

Costa Rica's National Adaptation Policy 2018 to 2030 (Decree 41091-MINAE) and its National Adaptation Plan 2022 to 2026.

Good to know

Restoration and adaptation projects take years; one planting or cistern doesn't prove resilience.

Ask before you go

Whether a project has public visits or tours, and who in the community leads it.

"Climate resilience" can sound like a phrase from a government report. In Nicoya, it looks like a water-board volunteer explaining why a deep well went dry. In the Térraba-Sierpe wetland, it's a local crew helping a damaged mangrove forest grow back. In San José, it's neighbors planting trees along a river that floods when the city's pavement sheds rain.

Costa Rica packs mountains, dry forest, rainforest, two coastlines and thousands of small communities into a country smaller than West Virginia. Each place faces different climate pressures: drier dry seasons, heavier downpours, warmer seas and eroding coasts. An adaptation plan for a Guanacaste watershed won't look like one for a Caribbean town. The projects that last start by asking residents what's already changing and what they can keep running themselves. This guide looks at the people doing that work, what's been learned, and how visitors can learn from it without getting in the way.

Drought and floods in the same year: what 2026 showed

The strong El Niño of 2026 made the problem easy to see. In September, the Tico Times reported that rainfall on the Pacific slope and in the Central Valley had fallen as much as 37% below normal, during what's usually one of Guanacaste's wettest months. Cattle were dying for lack of feed, and midyear hay production had fallen by half or more. At the same time, rainfall in the Caribbean and much of the northern zone ran up to 42% above normal, flooding parts of Sarapiquí, Guápiles and Limón.

The dry months had already been hard. Guanacaste saw an elevenfold jump in forest fires early in 2026, and a wildfire burned about a fifth of Palo Verde National Park. Forecasters expected El Niño conditions to last until at least January 2027, which meant the Pacific side could enter the next dry season with depleted water sources.

That's what resilience planning has to cover: too little water, too much water, fire and heat, sometimes all in one year.

Community water boards on the front line

Much of rural Costa Rica gets its water from community-run systems called ASADAS, local associations that manage wells, springs, tanks and pipes. Together with other rural water committees, they serve about a quarter of the population. Most are run by small boards of neighbors.

In September 2026, Delfino reported that 32 ASADAS were rationing water in 74 communities across Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Alajuela, affecting about 6,525 connections. Some households in Nicoya were getting only 3 to 4 hours of running water a day. Jeffry Pérez Hernández, vice president of the ASADA in Moracia, Nicoya, described falling yields from the community's deep wells: "One of them has already dried up completely," he told Delfino. Emel Rodríguez Paniagua, vice president of Conaflu, the national confederation of community water systems, said communities must prepare for drought. She explained to the Tico Times that flood-damaged systems usually recover once rivers drop, while communities that depend on springs or wells have no such quick fix.

Rationing also creates new risks. The president of Costa Rica's Association of Chemists warned about storing water in unsuitable containers and drinking from unknown sources. And capacity is uneven: an August 2026 audit by the national comptroller of 42 ASADAS found that more than half didn't know whether they had enough water for current and future demand, and seven had a negative water balance.

This is a snapshot of one difficult season, not a permanent verdict on any community. It does show where resilience starts: knowing your water sources, protecting recharge areas, fixing leaks, storing water safely and having a plan before the wells drop. For practical steps at home, see our guide to rainwater harvesting and water-smart living. Read our news coverage of the 74 communities rationing water and the court order to protect the Tempisque River, Guanacaste's main river.

Mangroves: coastal protection that depends on people

Mangrove forests store carbon, shelter young fish and help buffer some coastlines from waves and erosion. They can't solve every coastal hazard, and restoring them is harder than planting seedlings. Water flow, salt levels and sediment all have to be right.

An October 2026 report released by Wetlands International puts Costa Rica's mangroves at about 392 square kilometers, after losing nearly 14,000 hectares between 1992 and 2014, with erosion the biggest cause. It estimates 1,891 hectares as potentially restorable, including old shrimp ponds and salt works. That's a planning estimate, not forest that's already growing back. Julio Montes de Oca, director of coastal resilience at the National Audubon Society, said: "Costa Rica has made great strides in safeguarding its mangroves." The report also flags gaps: 13 mangrove areas sit outside protected areas without management plans, and long-term funding is still early because mangroves aren't covered by the national payments program for forest owners.

On the southern Pacific coast, Osa Conservation runs a mangrove program in the Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland, Costa Rica's largest mangrove system. A 2024 fellowship listing says the program has carried out community-led restoration on more than 130 hectares since 2018, with long-term monitoring of forest structure, water chemistry and wildlife at restored sites. Its team page lists Karla Ramírez and Christian Peralta as mangrove restoration coordinators, alongside a restoration field crew of more than two dozen people.

The best mangrove projects measure survival over years and involve the fishers and shellfish harvesters who depend on the estuary. A project that protects mangroves while cutting off local livelihoods would be incomplete. Closer to the Nicoya beaches, Sámara neighbors are pushing to restore the Río Lagarto mangrove. For more on coastal work, see our marine conservation guide.

Watersheds: helping land hold water in Guanacaste

In the Nandamojo watershed near Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, the Guanacaste Water Center in Paraíso works on a simple idea with complicated details: help the land soak up more rain so more water recharges the aquifers people drink from. The center is run by the nonprofit Nandamojo Association. Tom Peifer, its technical adviser, has worked in Costa Rica for about 30 years and founded El Centro Verde, a land restoration learning center.

The center's programs include watershed education for all ages, soil restoration on farms, rainwater capture, a native tree nursery, support for local forest fire brigades, and a "Bees for Trees" microfinance project in which participants earn income from beekeeping and reforest 10% of their farms. It offers tours, school field trips and workshops.

Healthy soil and plant cover can change how water soaks in and how fast runoff erodes the ground, but results depend on local conditions and take time to measure. Planting trees won't refill a dry well by next season. For native-tree projects around the country, see our reforestation guide, and for how landowners protect forest long term, see private land conservation.

Urban rivers and flooding in San José

In cities, rivers take the runoff from roofs and pavement, and that makes flash floods worse. In San José, Amigos del Río Torres, a citizen movement founded in 2013, runs volunteer days for cleanups, tree planting and urban gardens along more than 20 km of the Río Torres. Rutas Naturbanas is working to turn neglected riverbanks along the Torres, María Aguilar and other rivers into green walking and cycling routes linking several San José municipalities.

These projects improve habitat, shade and public space. A greener riverbank isn't a flood guarantee, though, and real flood protection also needs drainage, land-use rules and early warnings. Our guide to greener cities covers urban projects in more detail.

How to judge a climate adaptation project

Environmental stories tend to celebrate the photo moment: trees planted, a tank installed, a beach cleaned. The useful questions come later:

• Did it survive the next dry season or storm?
• Who maintains it, and who pays for repairs?
• Did the intended families benefit, or did the problem shift to the neighbors?
• Is it measured? Survival rates, water levels and monitoring plots beat announcements.
• Is it adaptation or emissions cutting? Solar panels reduce emissions; a water storage plan helps people cope. Both are useful, but they're different claims.

It also helps to separate hazard, exposure and vulnerability. Two towns can get the same rainstorm. One stays dry because its drains are clear and homes sit back from the river; the other floods because they don't.

At the national level, Costa Rica's National Adaptation Policy 2018 to 2030 sets six priorities, from local capacity and climate services to protecting watersheds and coasts, resilient infrastructure and financing. Its first action plan, the National Adaptation Plan, covers 2022 to 2026. Plans matter, but most of the work happens in places like Moracia and Térraba-Sierpe.

Where visitors can learn about climate resilience

• Guanacaste: Book a tour or workshop at the Guanacaste Water Center in Paraíso. In the dry season, use water carefully wherever you stay, since hotels often draw on the same aquifers as local families.
• Osa and the southern Pacific: Learn about mangrove restoration through Osa Conservation's programs.
• San José: Join an Amigos del Río Torres volunteer day or walk a finished Rutas Naturbanas stretch.
• Coastal towns: Look for locally led mangrove, beach and fishing projects that invite visitors. Our beach cleanups and river restoration guide lists ways to join.

Stick to public education sites and organized events. Don't visit water intakes, wells or monitoring equipment uninvited, and stay out of flood-prone riverbanks during heavy rain. The Pura-Verde map shows community projects that welcome visitors.

Frequently asked questions

Is Costa Rica affected by climate change?

Yes. Costa Rica faces stronger dry seasons and droughts on the Pacific side, heavier rain and flooding in other regions, forest fires, warmer seas and coastal erosion. In 2026, a strong El Niño left 74 communities rationing water while parts of the Caribbean flooded.

What is an ASADA in Costa Rica?

An ASADA is a community association that runs a local drinking water system: wells, springs, tanks and pipes. ASADAS and similar rural committees serve about a quarter of Costa Ricans, mostly in rural areas.

Why is Guanacaste running out of water?

Guanacaste is Costa Rica's driest region, and the strong 2026 El Niño cut Pacific-side rainfall by up to 37%. Demand from homes, farms and tourism, leaky systems and patchy data on how much water each aquifer holds add to the pressure.

How do mangroves help with climate change?

Mangroves store large amounts of carbon, shelter young fish and help buffer some coastlines from waves and erosion. Costa Rica has about 392 square kilometers of mangroves, and groups like Osa Conservation are restoring degraded areas.

What is Costa Rica doing to adapt to climate change?

Costa Rica has a National Adaptation Policy for 2018 to 2030 and a National Adaptation Plan for 2022 to 2026. On the ground, much of the work is local: community water boards, mangrove restoration, watershed programs and urban river projects.

Can tourists help with climate resilience in Costa Rica?

Yes. Save water, especially in the dry season, choose lodges that manage water and energy carefully, join organized volunteer days, and support local groups like water boards, mangrove projects and watershed centers through tours or donations.

Sources

1. Delfino: Acueductos comunales reportan racionamientos de agua en 74 comunidades (September 22, 2026)
2. Tico Times: Costa Rica water rationing as El Niño hits (September 24, 2026)
3. El Observador: Contraloría alerta fallas en Asadas (August 6, 2026)
4. Wikipedia: Water supply and sanitation in Costa Rica
5. Osa Conservation: Meet the Team
6. Osa Conservation: Mangrove restoration monitoring fellowship, Térraba-Sierpe National Wetland
7. Wetlands International: Strong foundations to accelerate mangrove conservation in Costa Rica, but new finance needed (October 26, 2026)
8. Guanacaste Water Center: About
9. Climate Change Laws of the World: National Adaptation Policy 2018 to 2030 (Decree 41091-MINAE)
10. Amigos del Río Torres: Quiénes somos
11. Rutas Naturbanas: official site

We checked these pages when we last updated this guide. We didn't interview the people named; their roles and words come from the sources above.