Costa Rican water project spurs bee-habitat worries

A massive water-storage project approved for Costa Rica’s driest region has the country’s beekeepers’ association worried about habitat loss in an area that is home to as many as 300 endemic bee species. On Sept. 6, Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly gave final approval to the Water Storage Program for Guanacaste. The project, known as Paacume, will dam local rivers to create an 850-hectare (2,100-acre) reservoir in the northwestern province of Guanacaste. With construction slated to begin in 2020, the four-part project will include a hydroelectric dam, a series of canals for water distribution, and the voluminous reservoir, which will be located in the town of Bagaces. Intended to bolster water and power supplies for Guanacaste farmers and residents, the project requires flooding of a 113-hectare (279-acre) portion of the Lomas de Barbudal Biological Reserve, home to hundreds of species of bees, butterflies and other... [Log in to read more]

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