Tamarindo Beach Gets Clean Bill of Health
Playa Tamarindo, along with seven of the country’s beaches, was given a clean bill of health last week.
The ruling, announced last week by the Costa Rican Water and Sewerage Authority (AyA) comes almost 12 months to the day the Ministry of Health deemed Tamarindo “unsafe for swimming”.
Other beaches which improved their water quality in the last 12 months, included El Roble and Agujas (both on the Central Pacific coast), Doña Ana near Boca Barranca, Herradura, Manzanillo in Guanacaste, Puntarenas, Tárcoles, Playa Sámara on the Nicoya Peninsula, and Tamarindo.
“The densities of FC/100mL (fecal coliforms per 100mL), in the two points located in [Tamarindo’s] ocean, indicate a drastic decrease in contamination, qualifying the ocean water as suitable for swimming,” said AyA’s Laboratory Director, Dr Darner Mora. Dr Mora is also Director of the national Blue Flag Program.
The overall improvement of the beach’s water quality is the result of a strong effort of coordination between the Minister of Health, and the Tamarindo community, continued Dr Mora.
AyA’s laboratory says water fit for swimming should not contain more than 240 fecal coliforms per 100 milliliters of liquid. When it surpasses 500, it is considered a health risk.
At one sampling point, near Tamarindo’s southern estuary fecal coliforms numbered an astounding 3,100,000 per 100mL.
Tourism for the popular beach town suffered significantly after national and international reports of water quality tests undertaken by the AyA revealed the beach’s hazardously high levels of bacteria were jeopardizing the health of swimmers.
Federico Amador, representative for the Tamarindo Association (Asociación de Pro Mejoras de Playa Tamarindo, or APMT) agreed a strong community commitment, including efforts by organizations like the Tamarindo chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, helped to drastically turn the tide on Tamarindo’s water quality.
“It proves that if we work together, we can accomplish many things,” he said late this week.
Mr Amador was, however, quick to point out the town is not entirely in the clear: two to three of Tamarindo’s 13 discharge test-points, found along and near about two kilometers of the beach, have not yet reached acceptable standards.
PLAYA TAMARINDO: Costa Rica’s Water and Sewerage Authority says the popular beach is safe to swim, following tests which showed water quality has greatly improved from 12 months ago. Other beaches did not fare so well. (Photo Courtesy of CATURGA)
“If you look at the study, it shows that there are points which still maintain a high level of fecal coliforms,” he said. “But, I think that’s local. There are still businesses or residences around this area, still polluting, still contaminating.”
The final solution is still to build the water treatment plant, said the Executive Director of the Guanacaste Chamber of Tourism, Mauricio Céspedes, in a recent interview.
“I think these positive things like the plan regulador (urban zoning plan) and the water treatment plant — if these are a reality — I think they’re going to be a big benefit.”
“Though the results from the last sanitary inspection and the water analyses indicate an improvement in Tamarindo, there are still aspects that cannot be neglected,” said the Executive President of AyA, Ricardo Sancho.
Further inspections must be carried out in order to guarantee “a sure and healthy continuance of tourists and residents to this beach”, added Mr Sancho.
In order for Tamarindo to regain the prestigious ecological award, the Bandera Azul Ecológica, or Blue Flag, AyA and health authorities say the town must eliminate all the residual water discharges found to be more than 1000 fecal coliforms per 100mL.
According to Mr Amador, community officials have been honing in on these locations.
“We need to keep pressuring them,” he said, determined. “Right now we’re closing in on this circle, and we have established where those points are and can call the Health Ministry and tell them to look specifically in a particular direction.”
Together with the AyA, the Ministry of Health last week stressed the two entities would continue adamantly enforcing sanitary measures in contaminated coastal zones.
“The sanitary sweeps we’re talking about consist of prompt interventions in coastal zones with high-risks of contamination,” said the Minister of Health, María Luisa Ávila. “Continuing monitoring beaches in Guanacaste, Puntarenas and Limón is top priority, she said.
The sweeps, she continued, include reviewing commercial, industrial and residential establishments and identifying points of contamination, as well as the recollection and periodic analysis of bacteria present in the water.
PRETTY IN PINK: The view from the south end of Jaco Beach is broken up by the verizons jutting out from the popular tourist town. Recent water quality tests are leading some to wonder what all the fuss is about.
“It is important to emphasize the contamination at the beaches is not solely attributed to activities carried out at those sites, but that it is also coming from cities and neighboring communities,” said Minister Ávila. “For that reason, the actions undertaken should be integral before any positive impact can be seen.”
The Minister also pledged to place signs up at beaches deemed unfit for swimming; signs would be posted by December, she said.
Of the 20 beaches analyzed, there are six which the AyA found to show poorer water quality from August 25 of last year, to this past August 13.
Playas del Coco’s north and south beaches, Jacó, Manzanillo in Limón, Puerto Viejo and Tambor all received degraded ratings this year.
In the case of Playas del Coco, the northern stretch of the bay is considered hazardous for the health of swimmers. The southern section, however, is safe for swimming but still subject to AyA inspections and periodic analyses. The latter’s tests fell between 100 and 240 fecal coliforms per 100mL, whereas the former’s hit upwards of 800 fecal coliforms per 100mL.
“One day I read a phrase from the ancient philosopher Heraclitus, which said that human health is a reflection of the environment,” said Minister Ávila, who said she stood by that, which, since antiquity, has had a clear concept of the subject.
Areas like Jacó — which over the past year increased its bacterial count 17-fold, forcing the AyA to declare the beach unsafe for swimming — must receive second and third sanitary sweeps, said the Minister.
“It’s clear there is a cultural problem in the country that we have not been very responsible with the handling of residual and black waters, but I can assure you that we have worked on reversing these problems in the community of Jacó, as well as on a cantonal level,” said the President of Garabito’s Municipal Council, Damaris Arriola.
Echoing early frustrations of the Tamarindo community, Ms Arriola continued by saying: “We need to understand that this problem cannot be tackled overnight. We have been handed very precise instructions for everything from the Ministry of Health.”
Yet, argued Ms Arriola, the Health Ministry had not closed certain locations which the Municipal Council had found directly polluting. Her list of complaints was long, and spanned over the past years.
Minister Ávila assured the Ministry of Health would be working hard “in problematic areas where we’ve already taken actions with the sanitary sweeps — areas where we have already given sanitary orders like Jacó”.
