Eindhoven University of Technology

MASTER

Assessment of impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica

Vink, R.A.M.

Award date: 2002

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Eindhoven University of Technology Faculty Technology Management Technology and Development Studies The Netherlands

Assessment of impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Main report

Ing. R.A.M. Vink - July 2002

M. Sc. Thesis

Student No. 477808

Supervisors Eindhoven University of Technology

Ir. E.L.C. van Egmond – de Wilde de Ligny Drs. H.C.J.J. Gaillard Faculty of Technology Management Department of Technology and Society

Dr. Ir. P.A. Erkelens Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning Department of Building Technologies

In co-operation with

Ing. R. Pujol Mesalles, Ph. D. ProDUS University of Costa Rica, San José.

Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Executive summary

In Costa Rica, the national electricity demand is expected to grow around 5,7% annually until 2020. To meet the growing power demand, the National Development Plan calls for the construction of 29 new power plants, mainly hydro-power. CNFL is one of the state-owned companies involved in the generation and distribution of electricity in Costa Rica. In order to become more competitive within the electricity sector, which is dominated by ICE, CNFL plans to implement H.P. Balsa Superior in the canton of San Ramón de Alajuela to increase their generating capacity.

However, research has demonstrated that the past performance of Costa Rica's economy was heavily related to the (accelerated) use of the country’s resource base. It is even argued that it would be possible to suggest that this steady growth is achieved only at an extremely high environmental cost resulting from ill-conceived modernisation incentive. Therefore, the government has developed official regulations for the environment. The three key variables for development strategies in the energy sector in Costa Rica are energy conservation and efficiency, use of renewable sources of energy, and the appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment of energy projects.

In December 2001, ProDUS started working on the Regulatory Plan of San Ramón. The Regulatory Plan gives guidelines for future development of all land-uses and related (economic) activities in the canton of San Ramón de Alajuela, therefore knowledge regarding impacts of the proposed hydro-electric project Balsa Superior is important.

This brings us to the research question as elaborated in the first part of this report. Part A: the methodological issues. In this part of the research, the methodological background of the research project is discussed. This includes an explanation of the research model, the aim and relevance of the research, the research question, the research tools, the research population and units, the methods of data-collection and the techniques of analysis. In Part B: results, the results of the fieldwork are elaborated. The fieldwork is divided into 4 sub-studies. Sub- study 1 includes a summary of the most important regional and national sustainable development objectives of the National Development Plan and the Municipality of San Ramón. In sub-study 2 a general description of H.P. Balsa Superior is given and the location of the project is determined. The primary and secondary physical structures of H.P. Balsa Superior are described and their location is determined as well. Sub-study 3 shows the results of a study on the location of present land-uses within the project area. In this study also the most appropriate research area is identified and the research population is defined. Also the land-use change within the research area is identified. In sub-study 4 the location of the research population (economic activities) is identified. Also the research units are identified in this sub-study. In this sub-study the impacts of the land-use change on the economic environment, the economic process and the economic results of the economic activities are elaborated. In Part C: conclusions and recommendations, the impacts are compared with the sustainable development objectives in order to determine the relation between H.P. Balsa Superior and sustainable development. In this part of the research also recommendations to improve or enhance this relation are given.

Part A: Methodological issues The research question is as follows:

“ Which are the impacts on economic activities in the research area due to alterations in the present land- use as a consequence of implementation of proposed hydro-electric project Balsa Superior in the province of San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica?”

This research question is split into the following sub-research questions. These research questions are also visualised in the research model (figure 2.2): A. Which is the most appropriate research area? B. Which alterations in the present land-use appear as a consequence of the implementation of physical project structures of proposed H.P. Balsa Superior? C. Which are the impacts on economic activities in the research area due to these land-use alterations? D. How do these impacts relate to the sustainable development objectives?

Main report 1 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Part B: results

Sub-study 1: sustainable development objectives A study towards the sustainable development objectives of Costa Rica learned that the regional and national governments focus on 6 so-called areas of action: 1. Physical capital: the objective is to increase the presence of physical capital and investment incentives by i.a. the establishment of a financial environment with minimal risk and attractive rates of return on investment and the improvement of the physical infrastructure (i.a. roads); 2. Productivity: the objective is to increase the productivity of economic activities by i.a. increasing the efficiency of productive services (electricty, roads) by means of competition. Also the differentiation of products and increased value added is important. 3. Human capital: objective is to improve the living conditions and welfare of people by i.a. improving education and housing standards. 4. Regional development: the objective is to accomplish technical, social, economical and environmental progress on regional level by i.a. improving the competitive position of the tourism and agricultural sector and by improving regional physical infrastructure. 5. Fight against poverty: objective is to reduce poverty by i.a. means of increasing the employment possibilities and improving the competitive positions of micro-companies. 6. Natural capital: objective is to protect the natural environment and stimulate the rational use of resources by i.a. planification (mapping) of land-use and increasing the sustainablitity of hydropower.

The results of this sub-study are important in order to assess if the impacts of the project on economic activities have a positive relation to sustainable development.

Sub-study 2: physical project structures A description and the location of the physical project structures are important in order to determine the project area, the research area and the impact on the present land-use. The most important physical structures are: • Intakes: Within the project area 7 intakes are located. These intakes captivate water from the rivers. This water is used for the generation of electricity. • Tunnels of conduction: Within the project area 16 kilometres of tunnels are located. These are underground, concrete structures that conduct the captivated water towards either the reservoir or the powerhouse. • Pipelines of conduction: Within the project area 4,6 kilometres of steel pipelines will be located. These are superficial, steel structures that conduct the captivated water towards either the reservoir or the powerhouse. • Reservoirs: Within the project area 2 reservoirs will be located. The reservoir stores the captivated water. The surface of the main reservoir is 250 Ha. and the volume is 50 million m3. This makes it possible to generate electricity during the dry season when discharge in the rivers is low. A second derivation reservoir has a volume of 55.000 m3 and is used for peak generation of system Balsa II. • Dams: Within the project area 4 dams will be located. The main (rock) dam has a length of 290 meters, a height of 60 meters and a width (base of dam) of 300 meters. Two other (rock) dams in system Balsa I have lengths of 190 and 142 meters, heights of 17 and 19 meters and widths of 83 and 113 meters. The concrete derivation dam in system Balsa II has a height of 30 meters, a length of 20 meters and a width of 15 meters. • Powerhouse: Within the project area 2 powerhouse will be located. In the powerhouse the turbines are located. Powerhouse I has a capacity of 83,5 MW, powerhouse II has a capacity of 35,1 and 14,0 MW. • Access roads: Within the project area 15 kilometres of new access roads made of rough gravel will be located. Only 9 kilometres will be for public use as well. Also 11 kilometres of road will be upgraded with rough gravel. Because the present national road is affected, a new national road will consist of 6,7 kilometres of new asphalt road, and will upgrade 7 kilometres of existing (dirt) roads into an asphalt road. • Transmission lines: Within the canton of San Ramón, 21 kilometres of transmission lines will be constructed to transmit the generated electricity to Naranjo.

Main report 2 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Sub-study 3: present land-use In this sub-study the present land-use within the project area is identified. Together with the characteristics of the physical project structures it is possible to determine the change in present land-use within the project area. With the help of this data it was possible to determine the most appropriate research area: the reservoir is the largest structure in the project area, 250 Ha. of present land-use will change because of the implementation of the reservoir. This is 81,3% of the total change in present land-use caused by all physical structures of the project. The reservoir also affects the most divers land-uses that can have a relation to economic activities. The reservoir is also the only physical structure that provides opportunities for the development of new or present economic activities: tourism and recreation.

The research area is that part of the project area covered by the reservoir, and the research population is defined as “all economic activities directly affected by the reservoir”. The following land-use changes, caused by the implementation of the reservoir, are identified: • Agricultural land will disappear into the reservoir. • A part of the river Balsa will disappear into the reservoir. • Forested areas will disappear into the reservoir. • A part of the national road N702 and regional road will disappear into the reservoir and because of this a new national road will be located around the reservoir. • Some houses of the village La Balsa will disappear into the reservoir. • Instead of aforementioned present land-uses a reservoir will appear. • A hydro-plant generating electricity will appear near the reservoir

Sub-study 4: economic activities In this sub-study the research population (12 agricultural companies that are directly affected by the reservoir) has been identified. With respect to these companies the impacts of the change in present land-use on their economic environment, economic process and economic results are investigated. This research identified 6 impacts on the economic environment: • Impact 1: decrease in the size of the productive property. • Impact 2: disappearance of access to the company. • Impact 3: disappearance of access to water from the river Balsa. • Impact 4: 100% reduction of intake discharge. • Impact 5: change in road distance towards San Ramón. • Impact 6: Improvement of road quality.

The changes in the economic environment have impact on the economic process and economic results of the 12 companies. The results of this study are: • 7 out of 12 companies can not continue their activities after implementation of the reservoir, because: The consequence of the decrease in the size of the productive property is that these companies have to reduce the amount of production factors (in all cases cows) varying from 37 to 100%. This will also reduce the level of production and income. The decrease in income makes it not possible for these companies to invest in the company ánd support the family. • 5 out of 12 companies can continue their activities after implementation of the reservoir, but: - 3 of these 5 companies have to relocate a part of their present productive property to the non-affected part of their total property. This is expensive and will cause a short-term impact on the costs of production, but these 3 companies are all financially capable to finance this relocation. The relocation does hardly affect the level of production on the short-term or long-term. The change in transport time has an insignificant impact on the total costs of the production. - 2 out of 5 companies only have to relocate some cows to other parts of their property. This will not cause any changes in the level or costs of production.

Part C: conclusion and recommendations

Conclusions In this part of the study the impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior are compared with the regional and national sustainable development objectives. The conclusion of this research is that H.P. Balsa Superior on a regional level does not significantly conflict with the regional sustainable development objectives. On a regional level, H.P. Balsa Superior does provide small-scale opportunities for the development of economic activities related to tourism or recreation. H.P. Balsa Superior does also not significantly conflict with the national sustainable

Main report 3 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. development objectives. The most important ánd significant contribution of H.P. Balsa Superior is the national increase in generated electricity with 5,2%.

Recommendations In order to enhance or improve the relation between H.P. Balsa Superior and the regional and national sustainable development objectives the following recommendations are given: • CNFL: - has to investigate the linkages between the level of national generation of electricity and the level of regional distribution of this generated electricity; - has to promote tourism and recreation by designing, constructing and financing the development of an information centre near the main dam and the reservoir; - has to investigate which parts of the reservoir bank are the most appropriate sites to located waterside recreation activities; - has to compensate the loss in present land-use through replacement with the help of i.a. reforestation programs; - not only has to compensate the value of the affected property, but also has to identify and acquire suitable land to make a restart, within the canton of San Ramón, possible for the 7 affected companies; - also has to compensate the costs of relocation in order to mitigate the short-term impact on the costs of production for the 5 remaining companies; - has to provide employment opportunities for preferably local labour within H.P. Balsa Superior

• The municipality of San Ramón: - has to assess the electricity demand for the economic activities in the region; - has to assess which present or new (electricity-intensive) economic activities can be important for development of the region; - has to investigate the discrepancies between the demand and supply side of recreation and tourism in the canton of San Ramón; - has to investigate the relation between present land-use and economic activities in order to improve the site-selection procedure of new projects. Thus, they first have to map the present land-uses; - has to train and (re) educate labour in order to work in H.P. Balsa Superior or economic activities related to tourism and recreation.

• SETENA - has to oblige the mitigation measure to distribute a certain amount of the generated electricity directly to the affected region; - should get data on the effect of the compensation measures through evaluation studies.

Main report 4 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Preface

You are now about to read my final thesis. For the fieldwork period of my final thesis I stayed in San José, Costa Rica for 5 months. Between November 2001 and March 2002 I have collected data in Costa Rica.

The realisation of this report would have been impossible without the help of a number of people. First of all I would like to thank my father, mother and girlfriend for their never-ending support during the difficult moments of this study. Secondly, I would like to thank Dr. Ir. E.L.C. van Egmond-de Wilde de Ligny for her patience and intensive support, and Dr. Ir. P.A. Erkelens and Drs. H.C.J.J. Gaillard for supervising this study. A thanks goes out to Ing. R. Pujol Mesalles, Ing. L. Zamóra and Lic. A.L. Bolaños Sedó from ProDUS who helped me during my fieldwork, introduced me to key-persons and offered me the necessary facilities. Big thanks go out to all the students who helped me out with the network configurations, ArcView, translations of the interviews, the field- work and all my other questions.

Finally I would like to thank all funds for their financial support which made this research possible.

Roy Vink

Thanks!!!!

Main report 5 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table of contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...... 1

PREFACE ...... 5

1 INTRODUCTION ...... 12

1.1 THE RESEARCH PROJECT ...... 12 1.2 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ...... 12 2 THEORETICAL ISSUES ...... 13

2.1 RESEARCH PROBLEM ...... 13 2.2 AIM OF THE RESEARCH ...... 13 2.3 RESEARCH QUESTION ...... 13 2.4 GENERAL CONCEPTUAL MODEL ...... 14 2.4.1 Explanation of general conceptual model ...... 14 2.4.2 Limitations of general conceptual model ...... 14 2.5 RESEARCH MODEL ...... 15 2.5.1 Conceptual definitions...... 15 2.5.2 Conceptual relations ...... 16 3 EMPIRICAL ISSUES ...... 17

3.1 RESEARCH TYPE ...... 17 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN ...... 17 3.3 POPULATION AND RESEARCH UNITS ...... 17 3.4 RESEARCH TOOLS ...... 17 3.5 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION ...... 17 3.6 RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY ...... 18 3.6.1 Interviews ...... 18 3.7 TECHNIQUES OF ANALYSIS ...... 18 4 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES ...... 21

4.1 NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 1998 -2002 ...... 21 5. H.P. BALSA SUPERIOR ...... 26

5.1 PROJECT AREA ...... 26 5.2 PROJECT LOCATION ...... 26 6 PROJECT PHYSICAL STRUCTURES ...... 27 6.1 PRIMARY STRUCTURES OF SYSTEM BALSA I ...... 27 6.1.1 Intake-structures ...... 27 6.1.2 Tunnel of conduction ...... 27 6.1.3 Pipeline of conduction ...... 28 6.1.4 Entrance in reservoir Balsa I ...... 28 6.1.5 Reservoir Balsa I ...... 28 6.1.6 Main dam ...... 28 6.1.7 Secondary dams ...... 29 6.1.8 Outlet from the reservoir ...... 29 6.1.9 Powerhouses Balsa I and Balsa II ...... 29 6.2 PRIMARY FACILITIES SYSTEM BALSA II ...... 29 6.2.1 Intakes ...... 29 6.2.2 Reservoir Balsa II ...... 30 6.2.3 Dam Balsa II ...... 30 6.2.4 Tunnel of conduction ...... 30 6.2.5 Powerhouse Balsa II ...... 30 6.3 SECONDARY PHYSICAL STRUCTURES ...... 30 6.3.1 Access roads ...... 30 6.3.2 Transmission lines ...... 31

Main report 6 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

7. PRESENT LAND-USE IN THE PROJECT AREA ...... 33

7.1 URBAN & BUILT UP ...... 33 7.1.1 Residential ...... 33 7.1.2 Commercial and (institutional) services ...... 33 7.1.3 Industrial ...... 34 7.1.4 Transportation...... 34 7.1.5 Extractive ...... 34 7.2 AGRICULTURAL LAND-USE ...... 34 7.2.1 Land used for cultivations ...... 34 7.2.2 Land used for productions ...... 34 7.4 FOREST ...... 35 7.5 WATER ...... 35 7.6 CONCLUSIONS ...... 35 8. CHANGE IN PRESENT LAND-USE IN PROJECT AREA ...... 36 8.1 SIZE ...... 36 8.1.1 Extension ...... 36 8.1.2 Dimension ...... 36 8.2 RATE OF CHANGE ...... 36 8.3 TYPE OF AFFECTED LAND-USE ...... 36 8.4 TYPE OF NEW LAND-USE ...... 36 8.5 CONCLUSIONS ...... 37 9 IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCH POPULATION ...... 39

9.1 COMMERCIAL LAND-USE / ACTIVITIES ...... 39 9.2 INDUSTRIAL AND SERVICE LAND-USE / ACTIVITIES ...... 39 9.3 AGRICULTURAL LAND-USE / ACTIVITIES ...... 39 10 PRESENT ECONOMIC ACTIVITY OF THE 12 COMPANIES ...... 40

10.1 TYPE OF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ...... 40 10.2 SIZE OF THE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ...... 40 10.3 PRESENT ECONOMIC RESULTS ...... 41 11. IMPACTS ON THE ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT OF THE 12 COMPANIES ...... 42

11.1 NATURAL RESOURCES ...... 42 11.1.1 Agricultural land ...... 42 11.1.2 Forest ...... 44 11.1.3 River Balsa ...... 44 11.1.4 Reservoir ...... 46 11.2 SUPPLIERS OF PRIMARY AND SEMI-FINISHED GOODS ...... 46 11.3 LABOUR FORCE ...... 46 11.4 SERVICES ...... 46 11.4.1 Roads ...... 46 11.4.2 Electricity ...... 48 11.5 CONCLUSIONS ...... 49 12 IMPACTS ON ECONOMIC PROCESS OF THE 12 COMPANIES ...... 50 12.1 CONSEQUENCES OF IMPACT 1...... 50 12.2 CONSEQUENCE OF IMPACT 2 ...... 53 12.3 CONSEQUENCE OF IMPACT 3 ...... 54 12.4 CONSEQUENCE OF IMPACT 4 ...... 54 12.5 CONSEQUENCE OF IMPACT 5 ...... 54 12.6 CONSEQUENCE OF IMPACT 6 ...... 55 12.7 CONCLUSIONS ...... 56 13 IMPACTS ON THE ECONOMIC RESULTS OF THE 12 COMPANIES ...... 57

13.1 IMPACT A: SHORT-TERM CHANGE IN LEVEL OF PRODUCTION ...... 57 13.2 IMPACT B: LONG-TERM CHANGE IN LEVEL OF PRODUCTION...... 57 13.2 IMPACT C: SHORT-TERM CHANGE IN PRODUCTION COSTS...... 57 13.3 IMPACT D: LONG-TERM CHANGE IN PRODUCTION COSTS...... 58

Main report 7 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

14 FUTURE ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ...... 60

14.2 CONCLUSIONS ...... 61 15 IMPACTS OF H.P. BALSA SUPERIOR VS. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES 63

15.1 ELECTRICITY ...... 63 15.1.1 Conclusions ...... 63 15.1.2 Recommendations ...... 63 15.2 PHYSICAL STRUCTURES ...... 64 15.2.1 Reservoir ...... 64 15.2.1.1 Conclusions ...... 64 15.2.1.2 Recommendations ...... 64 15.2.2 Roads ...... 65 15.2.2.1 Conclusions ...... 65 15.3 LAND-USE ...... 65 15.3.1 Conclusions ...... 65 15.3.2 Recommendations ...... 66 15.4 ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES ...... 66 15.4.1 Production and income ...... 66 15.4.1.1 Conclusions ...... 66 15.4.1.2 Recommendations ...... 67 15.4.2 Employment ...... 67 15.4.2.1 Conclusions ...... 67 15.4.2.2 Recommendations ...... 68 16 FINAL CONCLUSIONS ...... 69

16.1 FINAL CONCLUSIONS ON THE IMPACTS OF H.P. BALSA SUPERIOR ON MICRO OR COMPANY LEVEL ...... 69 16.2 FINAL CONCLUSIONS ON THE IMPACTS OF H.P. BALSA SUPERIOR ON MESO OR REGIONAL LEVEL ...... 69 16.3 FINAL CONCLUSIONS ON THE IMPACTS OF H.P. BALSA SUPERIOR ON MACRO OR NATIONAL LEVEL ...... 69 16.4 OVERALL CONCLUSIONS ...... 70 17 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ...... 71

18 LIMITATIONS ...... 72

SOURCES ...... 73

Main report 8 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Abbrevations ArcView Gis Geographical Information System (software) CNFL National Company for Power and Light. EIA Environmental Impact Assessment EIS Environmental Impact Statement GWh GigaWatthour H.P. Hydro Project ICE Costa Rican Institute of Electricity ICT Costa Rican Institute of Tourism ISIC International Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities MINAE Ministry of Environment and Energy MIRIS Michigan Resource Information System for Land-use Categorisation MOPT Ministry of Public (Transport) Works MW MegaWatts NDP National Development Plan ProDUS Programme for the Investigation on Sustainable Urban Development. SETENA National Commission on Environmental Impact Assessment SIA Social Impact Assessment

Currency equivalent • 335 Costa Rican Colones = United States dollar 1 (period November 2001 to March 2002). • US$ 1 = 1,02 European Euro (June 2002).

List of figures Fig. 2.1: General conceptual model Fig. 2.2: Research model Fig. 2.3: Model of economic relations Fig. 4.1: Areas of action of National Development Plan of Costa Rica for the period 1998 – 2002 Fig. 6.1: Intake structure. Fig. 6.2: Tunnel of conduction Fig. 6.3: Pipeline of conduction Fig. 6.4: Reservoir of H.P. Cachí. Fig. 6.5: Main dam of H.P. Peñas Blancas Fig. 6.6: Section of main dam H.P. Balsa Superior Fig. 6.7: Powerhouse of H.P. Daniel Gutierrez Fig. 6.8: National road N702 in La Balsa Fig. 6.9: Transmission lines Fig. 10.1: Ornamental plants company 10 Fig. 10.2: Size of productive property in hectares. Fig. 11.1: Percentage of affected productive property Fig. 11.2: Water intake structure Fig. 11.3: Slippery access road company 8. Fig. 12.1: Small barn of company 2. Fig. 12.2: Size of total, productive and affected property in hectares

List of tables Table 3.1: Research tools. Table 3.2: Methods of data collection. Table 4.1: Regional and national sustainable development objectives of Costa Rica. Table 7.1: Land-use within the project area. Table 10.1: Type of agricultural productions Table 10.2: Size of productive property Table 10.3: Present economic results Table 11.1: Size of present productive property. Table 11.2: Change in size of productive property. Table 11.3: Size of non-affected productive property. Table 11.4: Change in accessibility of the company. Table 11.5: Present discharge of intake in the river Balsa. Table 11.6: Reduction in discharge of intake in the river Balsa.

Main report 9 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 11.7: Present distance towards San Ramón. Table 11.8: Change (absolute and proportional) in distance towards San Ramón. Table 11.9: Future road distance towards San Ramón. Table 11.10: Present road quality. Table 11.11: Future road quality. Table 11.12: Change in road quality. Table 11.13: Relation between impacts on the economic environment and the companies. Table 12.1: Present amount of production factors. Table 12.2: Present density of production factors. Table 12.3: Density of production factors on remaining productive property. Table 12.4: Affected production facilities. Table 12.5: Size of non-affected productive property. Table 12.6: Size of present non-productive property. Table 12.7: Rate of possible relocation of affected productive property. Table 12.8: Maximum amount of production factors on non-affected productive property. Table 12.9: Decrease (absolute and proportional) in present amount of production factors. Table 12.10: Change in travel time (absolute and proportional) due to change in road quantity. Table 12.11: Change in travel time (absolute and proportional) due to change in road quality. Table 12.12: Relation impacts on economic process and the companies. Table 13.1: Relation between impacts on the economic process and the economic results. Table 13.2: Change in long-term level of production. Table 13.3: Differentiation of the costs of relocation. Table 13.4: Change (absolute and proportional) in road length. Table 13.5: Change (absolute and proportional) in travel time due to impacts 5.1, 5.2 and 6.1. Table 14.1: Future economic activities Table 14.2: Characteristics of the 12 companies.

List of maps Map 5.1: Project location within Costa Rica. Map 5.2: Project location within cantons of San Ramón and Alfaro Ruiz. Map 6.1: Location of the primary physical structures within the project area. Map 6.2: Location of secondary physical structures within the project area Map 7.1: Location of land-uses within project area. Map 8.1: Change in present land-use within the project area. Map 9.1: Location of the research population Map 11.1: Present location of entrance of the company. Map 11.2: Present location of the intakes in the river Balsa Map 11.3: Future location of entrance of the company Map 12.1: Future location of the entrance of the company. Map 12.2: Future location of intakes in the river Balsa

Main report 10 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

PART A

METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES

Main report 11 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

1 Introduction

1.1 The research project Research has demonstrated that the past performance of Costa Rica's economy (see appendix 1) was heavily related to the (accelerated) use of the country’s resource base. It is even argued that it would be possible to suggest that this steady growth is achieved only at an extremely high environmental cost resulting from ill- conceived modernisation incentive [35]. Therefore, the government has developed official regulations for the environment.

The World Commission on Dams has recently opened up the debate on the impacts of dams after extensive research. This increased the awareness of social and environmental implications on dams [11]. This awareness of the environmental consequences of development has led to renewed strategies for the different sectors in the economy. The three key variables for development strategies in the energy sector in Costa Rica (see appendix 1) are energy conservation and efficiency, use of renewable sources of energy, and the appropriate assessment of environmental impact (see appendix 1) of energy projects [40] and [11]. This research, that has a focus on environmental impacts of energy generation by means of hydropower, is carried out in collaboration with ProDUS within the frame of objectives of the Costa Rican government regarding sustainable development.

ProDUS is a research program of the Civil Engineering School of the University of Costa Rica in San José. The work of ProDUS is concentrated in the analysis and comprehension of the interactions between human activities and the supporting natural system in order to promote sustainable means of development. ProDUS is contracted by the canton of San Ramón to develop the Regulatory Plan. Within the organisational framework ProDUS is the only organisation working on the Regulatory Plan. This research is practical relevant because ProDUS will use this research as a complement to their work on the Regulatory Plan of San Ramón. The Regulatory Plan [3] gives guidelines for future development of all land-uses and related (economic) activities in the canton of San Ramón de Alajuela, therefore knowledge regarding impacts of proposed hydro-electric project is important.

1.2 Structure of the thesis

Part A: Methodological Issues In this part of the research, the methodological background of the research project is discussed. In chapter 2 the research model, the aim and relevance of the research, the research question and the definitions and relations in the model are explained. In chapter 3 the research tools, the research population and units, the methods of data- collection and the techniques of analysis are elaborated

Part B: results In this part of the report the results of the fieldwork are elaborated. The fieldwork is divided into 4 sub-studies: • Sub-study 1. Chapter 4 includes a summary of the most important regional and national sustainable development objectives of the National Development Plan and the Municipality of San Ramón. • Sub-study 2. Chapter 5 and 6 give a general description of H.P. Balsa Superior and the location of the project is determined. The primary and secondary physical structures of H.P. Balsa Superior are described and their location is determined as well. • Sub-study 3. Chapter 7 shows the results of a study on the location of present location of land-uses within the project area. In chapter 8 the most appropriate research area is identified (sub-research question A) and the research population is defined. Also the land-use change within the research area is identified (sub- research question B). • Sub-study 4. In chapter 9 the location of the research population (economic activities) is identified. Also the research units are identified in this sub-study. In chapter 10 the present activity of the research population is described. In this sub-study the impacts of the land-use change on the economic environment (chapter 11), the economic process (chapter 12) and the economic results (chapter 13) of the economic activities are elaborated (sub-research question C). In chapter 14 the conclusions of these impacts with respect to the 12 companies are drawn.

Part C: conclusions and recommendations In this part of the research sub-research question D is answered. In chapter 15 the impacts are compared with the sustainable development objectives in order to determine the relation between H.P. Balsa Superior and sustainable development. In chapter 15 also recommendations to improve or enhance this relation are given. In chapter 16 the final conclusion is drawn. And in chapter 17 and 18 recommendations for further research and the limitations of this research are described.

Main report 12 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

2 Theoretical issues

2.1 Research Problem The research problem as defined by ProDUS is as follows:

“ There is a need for research on the environmental impacts of hydro-electric projects in Costa Rica.”

Because of the interrelationships or cause and effect relations between environmental impacts, it is important to clearly define the specific relations and types of impacts that are important for this research. This is done in section 2.4 with the help of a general conceptual model with respect to environmental impact assessment.

2.2 Aim of the research The aim of the research is as follows:

“ Providing policy and decision makers with the needed information regarding the impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior on the economic activities located in the research area, for management and policy making

purposes regardingthe sustainable development of Costa Rica. “

Socio-economic relevance The identification of impacts of hydro-electric projects on the natural and human environment will make it possible to respond to these impacts in a most sustainable way.

Theoretical and scientific relevance The model that is used to identify the impacts of the hydro-electric project will contribute to the theoretical and scientific knowledge involving environmental impact assessments of these kind of projects. The results of this research will contribute, to a certain extent, to the knowledge involving environmental impacts of hydro-electric projects.

Integrative relevance In case of a hydro-electric project there can be an interaction between the technology and the natural and human environment (including society). The technology can change aspects of this society like the location of roads or villages. The society determines what degree of change is acceptable in order to achieve or maintain sustainable development or well being. In order to achieve this society can try to influence certain aspects of the technology that threaten the development process.

2.3 Research question The research question is as follows:

“ Which are the impacts on economic activities in the research area due to alterations in the present land- use as a consequence of implementation of proposed hydro-electric project Balsa Superior in the province of San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica?”

This research question is split into the following sub-research questions. These research questions are also visualised in figure 2.2: A. Which is the most appropriate research area? B. Which alterations in the present land-use appear as a consequence of the implementation of physical project structures of proposed H.P. Balsa Superior? C. Which are the impacts on economic activities in the research area due to these land-use alterations? D. How do these impacts relate to the sustainable development objectives?

Main report 13 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

2.4 General conceptual model The general conceptual model supports research related to environmental impact assessments. This model is used to elaborate the research model. The theory of models is based on: • Framework for Environmental Impact Assessment [26]; • Soderstrom’s General Impact Assessment Model [23]; • Aims-Tools-Impacts Model of Finsterbusch, Porter and Lemmens [1]; • Pressure-State-Response Framework for the Environment [6]; • Framework for Analysis of Livelihoods and Socio- Economic Context of Land-Use [6]; • General Environment-Economy Interaction Model [20].

2.4.1 Explanation of general conceptual model The starting point of this model is that the National Development Plan and the National Conservation Strategy set the objectives for sustainable means of development (here: related to H.P. Balsa Superior an important objective is the generation of a certain amount of electricity by means Fig 2.1: General conceptual model of hydropower). In order to meet the objectives certain inputs (here: H.P. Balsa Superior) are implemented within a certain environment (here: the natural and human environment of the project area in canton of San Ramón de Alajuela). The input will interact with its environment and create two kinds of outputs: targeted outputs1 (here: a certain amount of generated electricity) and non-targeted outputs2 (here: outputs independent from the amount of generated electricity, for example deforestation or resettlement of inhabitants). The outputs of the project have to be compared with the objectives from the National Development Plan and National Conservation Strategy in order verify the relation between the project outputs with respect to sustainable development. The targeted output will probably meet the sustainable development objectives, but the non-targeted outputs can be contrary to these objectives. After this analysis, conclusions can be drawn regarding the degree in which the input supports development.

2.4.2 Limitations of general conceptual model It is not possible to do an extensive assessment including impacts of all the projects inputs on all aspects of the human and natural environment. Therefore the limitations of the general conceptual model are given with regard to the objectives of the work of ProDUS.

Input In this research the input of the project is limited to “the physical project structures of H.P. Balsa Superior” present in the operation and maintenance phase. This limitation is based on the objectives of ProDUS Regulatory Plan and the assumption that most long-term impacts on the project environment are strongly related to the long- term changes in the environment due to the constructed physical project structures needed in the operation and maintenance phase of the project. Support for this assumption is shown in appendix 4.

Environment The initial components of the environment that are directly changed by the physical project structures are identified as “the existing land-uses”. This limitation of the environment is based on the assumption that in this kind of project the initial change caused by the implemented physical project structures is that of existing land- use. Land-uses are classified with the help of the MIRIS land-use classification system [42]. Support for this assumption can be found in appendix 4.

Output In this research the physical inputs cause changes in the environment by means of changing land-use. These changes can have impact on different parts of the environment. These outputs are defined as non-targeted output, because they do not contribute to the targeted output: the generation of electricity. In this research the impacts of land-use change on “economic activities” are elaborated. This limitation towards economic activities (part of

1 Targeted output: this is the output of the project intended to achieve within the project its objectives. In this case, the generation of a certain amount of electricity. 2 Non-targeted output: these are the outputs which not contribute to the achievement of the targeted output. Like deforestation, or the increase in employment possibilities due to the project.

Main report 14 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. environment) is based on the objectives of ProDUS Regulatory Plan and research that shows that there is a relation, or at least a strong correlation, between the presence of economic activities and the degree of development. Support for this limitation can be found in appendix 4.

2.5 Research model The limitations of the general conceptual model set the framework for the research model. The sub-research questions are visualised in the model.

2.5.1 Conceptual definitions

National Development Plan The National Development Plan 1998 – 2002 is “the strategy designed by the government of Costa Rica to meet national challenges, to profit from actual opportunities and reactivate the national economy. Objective of the NDP is to increase national development and welfare of all Costa Ricans [41]”. For in-depth information see chapter 4.

National Conservation Strategy This strategy is set to conserve the different precious resources in a sustainable way. Objectives with respect to conservation are also elaborated in the National Development

Plan for the period of 1998 – 2002. Fig 2.2: Research model

Sustainable development objectives These are the objectives that promote development in a sustainable way. In the case of Costa Rica these objectives are derived from the National Development Plan. Also see definition of sustainable development below.

Physical project structures Input is seen as the project its long-term physical structures, that will be located in the project area during the operation and maintenance phase of the project. Long-term physical project structures are the structures necessary for the operation and maintenance of the project. These are, for example, the dams, the reservoir, pipelines, intakes, transmission lines or the access roads.

Land-use Land-use can be defined as all the covers or uses present on the surface of the earth [42]. In this research the Michigan classification system (MIRIS) is used to identify the definition of the different types of land-uses. MIRIS [42] was established to provide a comprehensive, uniform system and is intended to support land cover and land use mapping activities (see chapter 7). Like the ISIC categorisation for economic activities the MIRIS categorisation has a 4-digit division (See appendix 5).

Economic activities In this research, an economic activity is defined as “ those companies involved in the process of producing or providing a good or service with a view to making profit”. The standard ISIC-categorisation [29] categorises economic activities on a 4-digit level (See appendix 7). In this research impacts on these economic activities are elaborated by assessing impacts on the economic environment (input-side) caused by land-use changes. The changes in the economic results (output-side) of the economic activities reflect consequences of changes in the economic environment (see section 2.5.2). This research focuses on agricultural activities located in the La Balsa region.

Sustainable development There are many definitions of sustainable development, the most frequently quoted definition is “sustainable development seeks to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [27]”. This has to be translated into policies that attempt to ensure “the existence of ecological conditions necessary to support human life at a specified level of well-being through future generations. Objectives with regard to sustainable development are set in the National Development Plan (see chapter 4).

Main report 15 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

2.5.2 Conceptual relations

National Development Plan and National Conservation Strategy – Sustainable development objectives From the National Development Plan and the National Conservation Strategy of Costa Rica the objectives with regard to sustainable development can be derived. Also development objectives of the municipality of San Ramón are used in this research.

Sustainable development objectives – Physical structures In order to achieve the objectives it is necessary to implement inputs (projects etc.) that are designed to reach specific objectives. H.P. Balsa Superior will be executed in order to reach the objective to generate more electricity and increase efficiency in the electricity sector. In this research the impacts of the physical structures are assessed.

Physical structures – Land-use Input is always implemented within a certain environment. This input will therefore interact with its environment. In this research the physical structures like the roads and the reservoir are implemented in an environment where land-uses like rivers, residential areas, agricultural land and roads are situated. The implementation of the physical structures will cause changes in these land-uses.

Land-use – Economic activities In order to explain the relation between land-use and economic activities the model of economic relations as used by Douben [10] is useful. The economic environment (see appendix 6), the economic system and the economic policies give input for economic activities or the economic process (see appendix 7). The economic activities produce economic results or output (see appendix 8). The economic environment is defined as “that part of the economic input where Fig. 2.3: Model of economic relations [10]. the physical inputs of the economic process are regarded [10]”. This is thus also the part of the economic input that relates most to the physical land- uses. In this research the assumption is made that the economic environment will be more affected, than the economic system or the economic politics, by changes in land-use.

Economic activities – Development In literature [25 and 27] relations between economic activities / results and development are examined. Relations can be seen within an international, national, regional or personal setting. Economic activities and economic results provide an extensive network of forward (within economic environment) and backward (through the economic results) linkages that provide incentives for development of different types of activities. Some examples: Public taxes can be raised on the inputs (property of agricultural land) or outputs (value added) of the economic activities. These taxes then can be used to invest in public supporting infrastructure like the road network or provision of electricity. Wherever economic activities are located employers are likely to live in vicinity of the company. This requires houses and the provision of basic needs like drinking water, electricity, infrastructure, shops or schools. The provision of these goods and services is depended on certain economic activities. On a personal level economic activity provides income which will be spend in order to support the family in their needs.

Economic activities – Sustainable development objectives – Physical structures (Dashed) The impacts of the project on economic activities can be in conflict with the sustainable development objectives. Whenever impacts are contrary to the sustainable development objectives it is possible to take mitigation measures by changing features of the physical structures (not part of this research).

Economic activities – Environment (Dashed) The impacts on the economic activities, caused by land-use changes, can be the cause of other changes within the natural and human environment (also other economic activities): outputs become non-targeted inputs. This is an endless circle which consist of relations between first, second and more order impacts / outputs. These impacts can affect sustainability of the project (not part of this research).

Main report 16 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

3 Empirical issues

3.1 Research type In this research, the impacts on economic activities that are caused by land-use change as a consequence of the physical project facilities are assessed. The first part of the research consists of a descriptive research by determining an appropriate research area and land-use change within the research area as a consequence of the project facilities. The second part consists of an explorative research, by means of interviews, to determine the impacts of land-use changes on economic activities in the research area.

3.2 Research design Because of a limited number of economic activities identified within a small research area, this research concerns a case study. It is an assessment of the impacts of one particular hydro-electric project on economic activities in one particular research area in Costa Rica.

3.3 Population and research units The research population is defined as follows (also see chapter 8 and 9):

“ The economic activities (companies) directly affected by the reservoir” The research population appears to be non-homogenous because of the fact that even within the agricultural activities different products are produced or cultivated. The companies therefore are not homogenous with regard to economic environment, the productive process and the economic results. Also because of the limited number of respondents in the research population (12 companies) it will not be possible to generalise data. The research units are defined as follows:

“ The owners or representatives of the affected economic activities (companies)”

3.4 Research tools To be able to find the information needed, the conceptual definitions have been operationalised. The following table shows the used research tools.

Table 3.1: research tools. Information needed Research tools Sustainable development objectives None. Physical structures None. Land-use Definitions of land-use (see appendix 5). Research population / area Definition of research population / area (see chapter 8). Economic activities Definitions of economic environment (appendix 6). Definitions of economic activities (appendix 7). Definitions of economic result (appendix 8). Conclusions and recommendations None.

3.5 Method of data collection During the field study in the period between November 2001 and March 2002, different methods of data collection for the different parts of this research project were used.

Table 3.2: methods of data collection. Information needed Methods of data collection Sustainable development objectives Literature from i.a. National Development Plan and Municipality of San Ramón. Physical structures Literature and design draws from CNFL and unstructured interviews with key-persons from CNFL. Land-use Satellite images, aerial photographs, geographical maps, maps from land registry office, literature and unstructured interviews with key-persons from all kinds of institutions. Economic activities Literature, unstructured interviews with key- informants and structured interviews (see appendix 18 and 19) with research units. Conclusion and recommendations Based on results.

Main report 17 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

3.6 Reliability and validity When doing research in non-Western cultures relatively cheap and fast-to-execute methods to reach optimal validity and reliability seem recommendable [12]. Both validity and reliability of data can be enhanced by means of different techniques. The used techniques in this research are: • Using different sources to gather information on the same subject: literature, personal observation, photographs or key-informants;

3.6.1 Interviews The research population consists of 12 companies (see chapter 9), therefore it is not necessary to work with a sample. With regard to the structured interviews the following techniques to increase reliability and validity are used: • Double translation. The interview is translated from English into Spanish by A.L. Bolaños Sedó and translated from Spanish into English by L.C. Blanco. She also corrected the discrepancies between the two translations. • Personal introduction. Before the interviews, all companies accessible by phone are contacted. During the interviews the objectives of the interview are explained personally by the researcher. • Pre-test: The pre-tests are done on 5 companies which were accessible by phone. After the field pre-test it was possible to fill in eventual gaps by phone (some of the owners did not live in La Balsa, but for example 2 hours south of San José). The most important conclusion of this pre-test were: - That some used terms in the interview were too difficult; - That data on values of property, facilities or production were relatively limited and unreliable because most of the companies did not have an organisation or management structure concerned with registration activities. - The fact that not all of the property has to be under production. So, a distinction has to be made between the total property and the productive property; - The fact that in some parts of the interview the order of questions was not optimal. - DKNA: the don’t know – no answer percentage has not been calculated, because all relevant data has been collected with the interviews, this indicates that dkna percentage was very low. - Respons analysis: Because of the limited number of respondents and the non-homogenous research population a vertical and horizontal respons analysis is not applicable.

3.7 Techniques of analysis The research population is small. Only 12 companies are part of the research population. It is not possible to generalise data and no specific statistical methods are used in this research. The used techniques consist of simple calculations. Therefore, the used techniques of analysis are elaborated in further detail in the chapter in which the results of this research will be analysed.

Main report 18 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

PART B

RESULTS

Main report 19 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Sub-study 1

Sustainable development objectives

Main report 20 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

4 Sustainable development objectives

The National Development Plan of Costa Rica for the period 1998 – 2002 [41] provides the (sub-) objectives for development. On a regional level (for cantons like San Ramón de Alajuela) these objectives are elaborated in a Regulatory Plan. No Regulatory Plan for San Ramón exists, therefore data from pre-studies with respect to the Regulatory Plan are used and incorporated in the objectives of the National Development Plan.

In this research two kind of relations with respect to the National Development Plan exists: • Direct relation: The targeted output of H.P. Balsa Superior is in accordance with the objective of the National Development Plan to generate more electricity by means of hydropower and supports the process of development to a certain degree; • Indirect relation: Not all of the non-targeted outputs of H.P. Balsa Superior have to be in accordance with the objectives of the National Development Plan. Therefore some of the non-targeted outputs will support and others will obstruct the process of development to a certain degree (See synthesis of chapter 15).

4.1 National Development Plan 1998 -2002 The National Development Plan of Costa Rica is based on 4 principles related to development: stability, growth, opportunities and sustainability. • Stability: economic stability is based on a low and steady level of inflation, this will favour economic growth possibilities and economic results like income and employment. Fiscal and monetary incentives have to reduce inflation. • Growth: the process of economic growth in Costa Rica has to be supported by high levels of investment, internal as well as external investment which help the application possibilities of new technologies in the productive processes. Besides investment also export and the value added of productions have to increase. • Opportunities: this means that activities in those sectors, in which growth and stability directly benefit all people, have to be stimulated. Institutional activities have to support for example education, health or tourist sectors. • Sustainability: development has to be sustainable in order to guarantee the presence of natural capital. Planification activities have to provide a reasonable distribution between the potential and actual use of land and natural resources. Besides natural capital also the productive processes have to be sustainable, this means that production has to be as clean as possible.

With respect to these 4 principles on which the National Development Plan is based, areas of action are elaborated. The areas of action are: fiscal area, monetary area, the financial area, productive area, area of physical capital, area of human capital, area of regional development, area of natural capital and the fight against poverty.

The research focuses on the consequences of land- use changes on economic activities. Important in this sense are changes within the economic environment, the productive process and the economic results of the economic activities. Therefore, the objectives with respect to those areas of actions related to the physical (economic) environment and to productivity are important: area of physical capital, area of productivity, area of human capital, area of regional development, of natural capital area and also aspects of the fight Fig. 4.1: Areas of action of National Development Plan of Costa against poverty. Rica for the period 1998 – 2002 [41].

Note: Because of unknow reason, the page numbers 22 and 24 are not included in this chapter. These pages are not missing, but do not exist.

Main report 21

Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 4.1: regional and national sustainable development objectives of Costa Rica. Area of action General objective Motive Sub-objectives Physical capital Increase presence of physical capital and Physical capital is indispensable with respect to production. • Establishment of financial environment with minimal risk and investment incentives. attractive rates of return on investment. • Elimination of bureaucracy and regulations which hinder investment (deregulation). • Improvement of institutional and physical infrastructure (ex: roads). Productivity Increase of productivity. Productivity is the basis of economic growth and economic • Increase investments. growth is basis for development. • Deregulation to increase access to resources, production factors and markets. • Increase efficiency of productive services (ex: roads, electricity) by means of commercialisation. • Increase R&D efforts. • Differentiation of type of produced products. • Increase value added of products. Human capital Improve living conditions and welfare Human capital is important for progress of present and future • Improve education. of people. development of a society. • Provide healthcare. • Improve safety. • Improve housing standards. Regional development Accomplishment of technical, social, Progress in certain regions is necessary to eliminate in- • Conservation of forests. economical and environmental progress equilibrium between regions, generating a situation with • Increasing competitive position of tourism sector. on regional level. improved access to sources of employment, public services and a • Improvement of institutional and physical infrastructure. more even distribution of wealth. • Increasing competitive position of agricultural sector. Fight against poverty Reduction of poverty within Costa Rica. The effects of poverty decrease social and personal welfare of • See human capital. those people and poverty also affects productivity and the human • Improving competitive position of micro-companies. capital. • Increasing employment possibilities. • Improving quality of work. Natural capital Protection of the natural environment Preserving natural resources is basis for sustainable • Development of system to valorise natural environment in and creation of mechanisms that development, which makes long-term development possible. economic terms. stimulate the rational use of natural • Strengthening of institutions related to environmental resources. conservation and monitoring (ex: EIA and SETENA). • Increase of territorial planification in order to monitor actual land-use and support planning process for future land and resource use. • Decentralisation of social and productive activities from Central Valley to rural areas. • Maintain or improve existing level of hydrological water quality and quantity. • Protection of bio-diversity and scenic beauty. • Decreasing contamination of water, air and grounds. • Increasing sustainability of the exploitation of hydropower and mining products. Source: [19], [21] and [41].

Main report 23

Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Sub-study 2

Physical project structures of H.P. Balsa Superior

Main report 25 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

5. H.P. Balsa Superior The H.P. Balsa Superior is initiated (and financed) by Compañia Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL) from San José, Costa Rica. The project will be located in the province of San Ramón de Alajuela in order to generate 132,6 MW or 324,4 GWh of electricity by means of hydropower. The costs of the project are estimated at US$200 million. A reservoir makes the system applicable for the annual generation of electricity. Two serial- placed powerhouses will generate the electricity. The electricity generated by the two serial-systems, called Balsa I and II, will be transmitted through a 21-km long, new transmission line to the sub-station of Naranjo. From this sub-station it will be transmitted into the existing national 138 kV system [2]. The generated electricity will not contribute to the existing electricity distribution system in the region. For more specific information see appendix 9.

5.1 Project area The project area is defined as “the rectangular area that exactly encloses the physical project structures and in which all direct land-use changes are located”.

5.2 Project location In Costa Rica there are only three geographic options with respect to the generation of electricity by means of annual regulated hydropower projects. Annual regulated projects like H.P. Balsa Superior permit the generation of electricity during the (dry) summer period and therefore decrease the consumption of fossil (non-renewable) energy sources [2]. One of these locations is situated in the zone of the Balsa watershed in the province of San Ramón de Map 5.1: Project location within Costa Rica. Alajuela. Advantage of this location is that it is situated relatively close to the largest centre of electricity consumption, the GAM. This is also the area where

Map 5.2: Project location within cantons of San Ramón and Alfaro Ruiz.

CNFL distributes its electricity. The main part of the project is located in the canton of San Ramón de Alajuela, the other part, mainly some intakes and part of the access road is located in the canton of Alfaro Ruiz de Alajuela. The nearest cities of any significance are the cantons its capitals, San Ramón and Zarcero at a distance of approximately 10 kilometres from the project area.

Main report 26 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

6 Project physical structures

6.1 Primary structures of system Balsa I These are the facilities directly needed to generate the electricity. The following map (for detailed map see appendix 10) shows the location of the primary physical project structures located in the project area.

Map 6.1: Location of the primary physical structures within the project area.

6.1.1 Intake-structures In total, 7 intake-structures will be constructed in project Balsa Superior. These intakes will be situated in the rivers Tapesco, Laguna, Espino I, Pinol, Cataratas, Balsa and Espino II. The intakes of system Balsa I are located in the rivers Tapesco, Laguna, Espino and Pinol.

By means of a diversion dam the intakes in these rivers will captivate a certain average annual discharge of the river for transport to the reservoir Balsa I. The maximum intake discharge depends on the maximum capacity of the intake, the maximum discharge of the rivers and the conduction capacity of the tunnel of conduction. The maximum captivation discharge is the same as the maximum conduction capacity of the tunnel of conduction: 24 m3/s [48]. The largest intake in the project has a width of 12 meter, a length of 38 Fig. 6.1: Intake structure. meter and a height of 4 meters [8].

6.1.2 Tunnel of conduction The tunnel of conduction is an underground, concrete structure that conducts the waters from the intakes to the reservoirs of Balsa I. This structure is underground because this reduces impacts on the earth’s surface. The tunnel of conduction therefore does not cause changes in the existing superficial land-uses. The tunnel is only situated in those areas where topographical and geological conditions allow drilling. The profile of the tunnel is 16,5 m2 in the first section and 22 m2 in the second section. The total length of the tunnel is 5827 meters [8]. The water will be transported under low pressure, therefore it is not necessary to construct special valves to relieve air-pressure changes.

Fig. 6.2: Tunnel of conduction.

Main report 27 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

6.1.3 Pipeline of conduction There where topography and geological conditions do not allow tunnel construction, a steel, superficial pipeline of 1500 meters long will conduct the waters towards reservoir Balsa I. This is a steel pipeline that is supported by concrete consoles that are placed h.o.h. 12 metres. The steel pipeline has a diameter of 3 meters and is supported by concrete consoles measuring 3,53 x 3,36 x 1,50 meters [8]. The slopes surrounding the pipeline have to be excavated to a 1.5:1 profile. This is because of stability of the surrounding grounds. These excavations will change, according to the topographical conditions, the actual land-use. On average, the width of the excavations will be 20 meters.

6.1.4 Entrance in reservoir Balsa I The last part of the conduction will go through different structures Fig. 6.3: Pipeline of conduction. before the water enters the reservoir Balsa I. These structures are all situated within the reservoir Balsa I. The maximum operation level of the reservoir is 1115 m.s.m.n, the minimum operation level of the reservoir is 1085 m.s.m.n. The pipeline of conduction ends at a level of 1117 m.sm.n, the maximum water level in the reservoir [8]. In case of a relatively full reservoir the water will just flow into the reservoir. In case of a really low water level in the reservoir guiding channels made out of rocks will be constructed to prevent erosion of the reservoirs bottom.

6.1.5 Reservoir Balsa I The function of the reservoir is to make the generation of electricity in the dry season possible. This is the only function of the reservoir. The water can not be used for irrigation or other extractive activities [48]. But, small-scale, non-motorised recreational functions are also possible like windsurfing, swimming or kayaking.

The covered surface is 250 Ha, the reservoir Balsa I will cause a major change in the existing land-use. The maximum width of the reservoir is 1440 meter and the maximum length of the reservoir is 4400 meter. The total available storage volume of the reservoir is 50 million m3 of water [8]. This volume is the total volume of the reservoir. No data are available about the dead volume of the reservoir, but the prospected lifetime of the dam will be around 80 Fig. 6.4:Reservoir of H.P. Cachí. years.

Within the reservoir, near the main dam, a concrete spill construction will be constructed. This construction does not allow the level of the reservoir to rise above 1115 m.s.m.n. In case the maximum operational level is 1115 m.s.m.n. is reached all excess water will be spilled into the downstream part of the river Balsa. Besides this non- mechanical spill gate also a mechanical spill gate will be constructed. With this second spill gate the maximum water level can be regulated more precise. The minimum operational water level is 1085 m.s.m.n, the minimum level of the reservoir (bottom) is approximately 1065 m.s.m.n.

6.1.6 Main dam The function of the main dam is to close of the canyon in order to create the artificial lake and to control water flows and water level in reservoir Balsa I. The main dam of H.P. Balsa Superior is a dam of loose rock materials with zonification [16].

The dam has a height of 60 meter and the crest is 290 meters long and 8 meters width. On top of the crest the new national road will be located. The base of the dam has a width of 300 meters. The dam has a volume of 1,0 million m3 of material [8]. The change in land-use caused by the dam construction is taken into account in the surface of the reservoir Balsa I. The dam is located in the river Balsa and can therefore be seen as a type of intake. Water from the river Balsa will be captivated in the reservoir. Fig. 6.5: Main dam of H.P. Peñas Blancas.

Main report 28 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The dam (fig 6.6) has an upstream-orientated, impermeable nucleus of clay (1). This means that the dam has a nucleus of compacted clay placed with the largest angle toward the upstream part of the watershed, because of constructive advantages. The nucleus is covered with a layer of sand / gravel (2). Surrounding this sand / gravel layer an intermediate layer of larger fractions of gravel and rock (3) will be constructed that will be covered by rocks (4). The layer of rocks (4) forms the main part of the dam. This layer is covered with rip-rap (5). The earth on which the dam will be constructed will be covered by a layer of impermeable geo-textile (10) covered by a transition layer of gravel and sand. These layers prevent the vertical drainage of water. Injections will prevent horizontal water flow underneath the dam construction (9) [8].

Fig. 6.6: Section of main dam H.P. Balsa Superior

6.1.7 Secondary dams The function of the secondary dams is also to close of canyons in order to create the artificial lake. The dams have a central placed nucleus of clay. The nucleus is supported by rocks and gravel and covered with geotextil and rip-rap.

Secondary dam #1 has a height of 17 meters and the crest is 190 meters long and 6 meters width. The base of the dam has a width of 83 meters. The dam has a volume of 91.000 m3. Secondary dam #2 has a height of 19 meters and the crest is 142 meters long and 6 meters width. The base of the dam has a width of 113 meters. The dam has a volume of 80.500 m3 [8].

6.1.8 Outlet from the reservoir Like the dams and the inlet structures, also the outlet is part of the reservoir. The outlet is situated at a distance of appr 2,6 kilometres west of the main dam [8]. A concrete construction with the top at a height of 1083 m.s.m.n will conduct the water to the outlet construction. The minimum level of operation is therefore 1085 m.s.m.n. Above the inlet a regulation office is situated that can regulate the inflow of water by means of valves. The water will be conducted through a 1825 meter long tunnel of conduction and the for the last part through a 3100 meter long pipeline of conduction.

6.1.9 Powerhouses Balsa I and Balsa II At the end of the pipeline of conduction the powerhouse Balsa I is situated. The powerhouse of system Balsa I has a generating capacity Fig. 6.7: Powerhouse of H.P. Daniel Gutierrez. of 83,5 MW [2]. A powerhouse is a relatively small construction, the size of a small house.

6.2 Primary facilities system Balsa II

6.2.1 Intakes The intake tunnel of the river Espino has a profile of 10 m2 and a length of 3100 meters. The intake tunnel of river Balsa has a profile of 16 m2 and a length of 390 meters. The intake tunnel of river Cataratas has a profile 10 m2 and a length of 2850 meters [8]. The water of the river Balsa and Espino will be conducted to the river San Luis. The waters of the river Cataratas will be conducted to the river Cataratitas. These rivers join downstream of powerhouse I near the reservoir Balsa II.

Main report 29 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

6.2.2 Reservoir Balsa II The reservoir of Balsa II is small compared to the reservoir of Balsa I. The reservoir of Balsa II therefore does not have the same function as Balsa II. Where the reservoir Balsa I is used to permit generation of electricity in the dry period, the small reservoir Balsa II is only used to guarantee the availability of the amount of water necessary for the peak generation of electricity in two periods of 2,5 hours. The reservoir has a volume of 55.000 m3 [2].

6.2.3 Dam Balsa II The reservoir Balsa II is created by means of a 30-metres high concrete diversion dam [8]. The dam is situated in the canyon of the river Cataratitas and is relatively small. The dam is located in the river Cataratitas and can therefore be seen as a type of intake. Water from the river Cataratitas will be captivated in the reservoir Balsa II. The dam is made out of concrete and contains a valve, which allows cleaning of the reservoir by means of spilling. The other function of the valve is to guarantee the minimal ecological discharge in the downstream part of the river

6.2.4 Tunnel of conduction The outlet that conducts the waters to powerhouse II is situated in the reservoir Balsa II. The tunnel of conduction has a profile of 21 m2 and a length of 2090 meter [8]. The last part of the underground steel pipeline of conduction has a steep slope towards the powerhouse. Powerhouse II has two different generators. That is why the steel pipeline is split up in two final steel pipelines before they enter the powerhouse.

6.2.5 Powerhouse Balsa II In the second system, Balsa II, the powerhouse has two generators to generate electricity. The generators of Balsa II have a capacity of respectively 35.1 MW and 14,0 MW [8].

6.3 Secondary physical structures These are the facilities that support the project. In this project permanent secondary facilities (in operation & maintenance phase) are the new access roads and the new transmission lines. The following map (for detailed map see appendix 11) shows the secondary physical structures of the project.

Map 6.2: Location of secondary physical structures within the project area

6.3.1 Access roads There are two types of access roads in the project. New access roads and existing roads that will be upgraded for the project. The roads will be made of rough gravel and have a width of 6 to 8 meters [2]. The map shows the locations of the upgraded and new access roads. Several trajects with respect to new or upgraded access roads can be distinguished (road length is estimated with help of ArcView):

Main report 30 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

• Traject 1: The access road between intake Tapesco near La Peña and the east side of the reservoir Balsa I. This road is partially new and partially upgraded. The total length of the roads is 14430metres, of which 9390 metres exists of new access roads and 5040 metres of upgraded existing roads [8,56]. In the operation and maintenance phase this will be a public road; • Traject 2: The diversions of the national road functions also as access roads for the dams. There will be two trajects, a left one and a right one. Both trajects are a combination of upgrades and new road construction of asphalt. The total length of the right traject is 6175 meters, of which 3395 meters consists of new roads. The total length of the left traject is 7745 meters of which 3335 meters consist of new roads [8, 56]. In the operation and maintenance phase this will be a public road; • Traject 3: The third traject leads from the outlet in the reservoir to the national road towards the powerhouse of Balsa II. This is also a combination of upgrades of existing roads and new road construction. The total length of the roads is 8600 metres, of which 3070 metres exists of new access roads (not for public

use) and 5530 metres of upgraded existing roads [8, 56]. Fig. 6.8: National road N702 in La Balsa. • Traject 4: The fourth traject is an inspection road parallel to the steel pipeline of conduction that conducts the water from the reservoir Balsa I towards powerhouse I. This road consist of a new road with a length of 2900 meters [8, 56]. In the operation and maintenance phase this is a private road of CNFL, which can not be used for public transportation [48].

6.3.2 Transmission lines Several kilometers of new transmission lines will be necessary to transmit the electricity to the National Network Sub-station in Naranjo. The 138 kV transmission line has a total length of 21 kilometre. The 34,4 kV transmission line, which provides the construction-sites with electricity, has a total length of 9,1 km. No exact data about these constructions are available. In the study, “Diseño y especificaciones técnicas de la linea de transmisso para el proyecto hidroelectrico Daniel Gutierrez” by A. Ramos and M. Sánchez of 1995, the width of a transmission structure is 6,32 meter and the height is 21,5 meter and the consoles are placed at a distance of 200 meters from each other. Fig. 6.9: Transmission lines.

Main report 31 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Sub-study 3

Present land-use

Main report 32 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

7. Present land-use in the project area In this sub-study the land-uses within the project area are identified. The project area is a relatively large area, therefore it is not possible to exactly identify all land-uses with respect to economic activities. Therefore, with respect to land-use related to economic activities, this sub-study consists of the identification of the likelihood of presence of certain land-uses within the project area. This general data on land-use, together with the data of the projects physical structures, will be used in chapter 8 to define a specific research area within the project area. This research area then will be the focus area for in-depth research on land-use with respect to economic activities.

In the following sections the results of this sub-study are elaborated. For more definition of land-use and detailed maps on this sub-study see appendix 12 and 13. The following map shows the identified land-uses within the project area.

Map 7.1: Location of land-uses within project area.

7.1 Urban & built up

7.1.1 Residential In the project area the residential sites Anateri, La Peña and La Balsa are situated [58]. Most of the villages in or near the project area are not more than “strip developments” along the roads. The villages of Anateri, La Peña and La Balsa are situated in the rural areas of the cantons of San Ramón and Alfaro Ruiz. These types of villages are called “caseríos”, this means that the village consists of nothing more than some houses without any communal structure like churches or city centres. The average amount of houses per village is approximately 16, and the average number of inhabitants is approximately 70 persons per village.

7.1.2 Commercial and (institutional) services The commercial activities / land-uses located in three villages within the project area are three small soda’s / convenience stores [50]. With respect to products of commercial activities the people within the project area are fully dependent upon the other larger villages located outside the project area. The only commercial activity located outside the three villages is Hotel Villablanca [50]. This hotel is located north-east of La Balsa, near Anateri, in the Cloudforest Los Angeles. Like the land-uses for commercial activities, most service activities are located within the centres of San Ramón and Zarcero itself. In this sense should be thought of health services, financial services, post services etc. Besides the basic services, like electricity and drinking water, almost no (commercial) service activities are located in the project area. In La Balsa, Anateri and La Peña schools are located. But for example, the school in La Balsa only has one small classroom.

Main report 33 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

7.1.3 Industrial Within the canton of San Ramón a wide array of industrial land-uses exists, but the industrial activities are mainly of a small scale according to the Ministry of Economics, Industries and Commerce. No exact data is available about the location of these industrial land-uses but literature and data show that most of the industrial activities are situated in the region near the capital San Ramón. This city is the centre of industrial activities while the companies in rural areas are mainly involved in agricultural activities.

7.1.4 Transportation The main national road in the canton of San Ramón is the N702 connecting the city of San Ramón with the city of La Fortuna in the canton of San Carlos. This road also passes through the village of La Balsa located in the project area. The villages of La Peña and Anateri are connected by means of regional roads with the national road N141 that connects San Ramón, Zarcero and the city of San Carlos [58].

7.1.5 Extractive A study of satellite images, aerial photographs and literature concludes that none of the activities related to this category are located within the project area. In San Ramón mining activities do still exist, but not in the vicinity of the project area.

7.2 Agricultural land-use Images, aerial photographs, key-informants [45, 46] and literature [19] show that agricultural land-uses are one of the most important economic land-uses in the canton. Agricultural activities are practised with large amplitude and are the basis of income for large shares of the canton its inhabitants. According to the land-use definition agricultural activities can be divided into two categories: cultivations and (confined) feeding operations or productions.

7.2.1 Land used for cultivations The principal agricultural cultivations in the canton of San Ramón are coffee, sugar cane and more recently ornamental flowers [19]. But on a smaller scale, also different types of fruits and vegetables are produced. The suitability of the project area with respect to these cultivations is dependent of certain characteristics of the natural environment (p.e: suitability of grounds, climate and elevation).

Because of the unfavourable natural circumstances (quality of grounds, temperature and elevation) with respect to the production of coffee, the likelihood of land-use for the production of coffee within the project area is small. The natural circumstances with respect to the cultivation of sugar cane seem more favourable, because all the important districts and regions in San Ramón with respect to the production of sugar cane are located near the project area. The presence of land-use for sugar cane in this area is therefore imaginable. Land used for the cultivation of ornamental plants and flowers is identified near the project area because of favourable natural circumstances (humid, low temperatures and little sunshine).

7.2.2 Land used for productions Different types of productions within the canton of San Ramón can be distinguished. The most important are pig farms, chickens farms (meat and / or eggs) and the milk / meat production of cows.

The likelihood of land-use for pig farms in the project area is present because 16 pig farms [19] located within the district of Angeles. However, the absolute size of the district of Angeles (390 km2), compared to the size of the project area is large (94km2). Also 19 chicken farms [19] are located in the district of Angeles because of the relative low population and activity density. Chicken farms need a quiet environment, because these animals are sensitive for noise. The land-use map shows large areas of pasturelands (appr 40% of project area), the production of milk and meat (dairy) is strongly related to the land-use of pasturelands. The likelihood of the presence of land used for milk and meat production within the project area is therefore high. The last years a new type of productive activity has developed in the canton of San Ramón, fish production [19]. In the canton of Angeles, four companies are dedicated to the production of fish. Because of the large number of rivers in the district of Angeles, the relatively small project area, and the small number of fish farms, the likelihood of the land-use for the production of fish within the project area is low.

Main report 34 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

7.4 Forest The land-use map shows that there are large forested areas located in the project area. Compared with the total project area, approximately 60% of the project area is covered with forest.

7.5 Water In the canton of San Ramón, and also within Costa Rica, not much natural lakes exist. Most lakes are artificial reservoirs, like Cachí and Arenal, used for hydropower. The rivers located in the project area are all part of the river Balsa watershed and used for the project. The rivers are Tapesco, Balsa, Espino, Pinol, Cataratas, Cataratitas and San Luis. These rivers are characterised by an average depth of 20 to 30 cm and average widths of 4 to 5 meters.

7.6 Conclusions The following table summarises the findings of this sub-study towards the identification of land-use within the project area.

Table 7.1: land-use within the project area. Land-use Description Residential The villages of La Balsa, La Peña and Anateri are located within the project area. In total appr. 48 houses and 210 inhabitants. Commercial activities In each of the villages a small soda is situated. Near La Balsa also one hotel is situated. For other commercial activities the villages depend on San Ramón and Zarcero. Service activities The basic services like electricity and drinking water are available. There are no economic (commercial) service activities like banks located in the project area. Industrial activities Industrial activities are located near San Ramón. Within the project area no industrial activities are identified. Transportation The N702 crosses the project area. Besides this road, regional roads connect the more rural villages. Extractive activities There are no extractive activities located in the project area. Agricultural activities Approximately 40% of the project area is dedicated to pasturelands or any form of cultivation. The presence of productions and cultivations dedicated to milk and meat production, the cultivation of ornamental plants and sugar cane are most likely. The presence of activities related to chicken or pig farms, coffee production and fish production seem less likely. Forest Approximately 60% of the project area consist of forested areas. These forested areas consist of large forests and some smaller shattered forest areas. Water In total the watersheds of 7 rivers are located within the project area. The rivers Balsa, Tapesco, Espino, Pinol, Cataratas, San Luis and Cataratitas (and their tributaries) are located within the project area.

Main report 35 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

8. Change in present land-use in project area Due to time and money involved, the project area is much too extensive for this research. Therefore, indicators to determine the most appropriate research area are elaborated. The most appropriate research area is defined as “that area within the project area where the change in present land-use due to the separate physical structures is most significant, and where the probability that land-use change will have impact on economic activities seems high” [cs]. In this research 4 indicators are used to assess the most appropriate research area. In the following section the theory behind these indicators is explained. The values for the different indicators are summarised in appendix 14.

8.1 Size The size of the physical project structures [8] is an important indicator with respect to the significance of the size of land-use changes. With the help of data on the size of the physical project structures it is possible to calculate two related indicators with respect to size: extension and dimension. With the help of these two indicators the importance of size can be elaborate.

8.1.1 Extension Physical project structures can have different shapes. In general the shapes are dived into two categories: rectangles and lines. Definitions of rectangular shapes and lines can be related to the ratio between width and length of the structure. A low value signifies that the extension is linear, a high value signifies that the extension is rectangular. Example: Considering one specific land-use area (of 10x10 metres), a linear structure of 80x5 metres (400m2) can at maximum affect 10 x 5 = 50 m2 of the present land-use. A concentrated structure of 20x20 metres (400m2) can totally affect the land-use. The value for the extension shows that two structures with the same dimension can have different impact on land-use

8.1.2 Dimension The dimension of the physical project structure shows the directly affected area covered by the physical project structure. The absolute value of the dimension is the multiplier of width and length. A low value of the dimension signifies that it is a small structure, a high value signifies that the structure is big. Example: Considering one specific land-use (of 10 x 10 metres), a small structure (2 x 2 metres) will affect less of the land-use than a big structure (5 x 5 metres).

8.2 Rate of change This indicator equals the ratio between the dimension of a specific structure and the total directly affected area of H.P. Balsa Superior. This indicator shows the rate of land-use change caused by a specific physical project structure. A low value signifies that, compared to the other structures, the dimension of the specific structure is small, for a high value it’s a large structure. The difference between dimension and rate of change is that dimension shows whether the absolute size is small or big, the rate of change compares the sizes of the different structures.

8.3 Type of affected land-use Within the project area different land-uses are identified. These land-uses all can have a relation with the economic environment. In this research is assumed that wherever more different types of land-uses are affected, the chance is higher that there will be consequences for economic activities. Thus, the number of different types of land-uses affected is important.

8.4 Type of new land-use Wherever the existing land-use changes a new land-use appears. The new land-uses are the physical project structures. Like the existing land-uses, also the new land-uses can have relations with the economic environment. In this case however, the relations are limited. For example, a steel pipeline construction does not have any use for other economic activities then the hydroelectric project itself. In this project only the reservoir and the certain trajects of the access roads have public importance for existing or new economic activities. Therefore those areas are also important.

Main report 36 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The following map (see appendix 15 for more detailed map) shows the land-use changes within the project area.

Map 8.1:change in present land-use within the project area.

8.5 Conclusions The values for extension (see appendix 14) show a sharp distinction between rectangular and linear structures. There are 8 linear structures with values for extension less than 1,3% (5, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19). The reservoir Balsa II (structure 12) has an extension value of 10%, this is intermediate between linear and rectangular. Then, the next lowest value for extension is 32% indicating that there are also 10 rectangular shaped structures (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13).

The linear structures cause rates of change in the existing land-use of 0,98% to 6,83%. But, remind that 6,83% is a value for the transmission lines (see remarks table in appendix 8). The data on dimension show that the structures have a small width and relatively high values for length. The main types of land-uses affected are small areas of agricultural land and forestland. In case of linear shapes, the impact of these changes on present land-uses is assumed to be small because rates of change caused by linear, small shapes with respect to one specific land-use will be low, and therefore change within the economic environment is assumed to be low as well.

With respect to the rectangular structures, the values for dimension and rate of change show that there are 10 structures (structures 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13) which have an absolute small dimension and cause rates of change less than 1%. These structures can be seen as points of land-use change within the project area. The number of land-uses changed by these structures is also low, very small amounts of forests or river (banks) are affected. Assumed is that these changes have insignificant impact on economic activities.

With respect to the rectangular structures, the values for dimension and rate of change show that there is also one structure (structure 6) which has absolute large dimensions and causes the absolute highest rate of land-use change (81,3%). Thus, the other 57,6 acres or 18,7% of land-use change will be caused by the other 18 project structures. Important is also the fact that, coincidentally, the land-uses within this area are divers, and have relations with the economic environment (see chapter 10). The reservoir directly affects residential land, commercial land, rivers, agricultural land, forest area and (national) roads. Therefore this area is assumed to be the most appropriate research area. Also the reservoir can provide opportunities for economic activities related to tourism and recreation.

The research population is defined as “all economic activities directly affected by the reservoir”.

Main report 37 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Sub-study 4

Economic activities

Main report 38 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

9 Identification of research population In section 8.1 the research population is defined as “all economic activities directly affected by the reservoir”. In this chapter the research population is identified.

9.1 Commercial land-use / activities Within the village of La Balsa only one commercial activity is located, a small soda / convenience store [50]. Observation learned that this commercial activity consists of nothing more than the possibility to drink a cup of coffee or buy some groceries within a living-room setting. Because of the dominance of agricultural activities within the research area, the consequences for this activity are not further elaborated.

9.2 Industrial and service land-use / activities Although three industrial activities are located near La Balsa [50], further research learned that these activities are not directly affected by the reservoir. These industrial activities therefore aren’t part of this research. The industrial activities consist of the fabrication of concrete sewage structures and 2 production facilities for the production of crushed rock (used for different constructive purposes).

9.3 Agricultural land-use / activities The most important land-use near the reservoir is that of agricultural land [45]. With respect to economic activities, this land is used for agricultural cultivations and productions. The map shows that 13 agricultural companies are directly affected by the reservoir (identified with help of land-registry maps [50]). In case of company 13 it was not possible to identify the owner and therefore it is not possible to obtain useful data related to this company. Therefore, companies 1 to 12 are the research population of this research.

The following map shows the research population.

Map 9.1: Location of the research population.

Main report 39 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

10 Present economic activity of the 12 companies In this chapter the research population is described. First by making a distinction between the type of economic activities, then the size of the companies and at last the present economic results will be described.

10.1 Type of economic activities It was observed that most of the 12 companies are involved in more than one activity, although one of the activities generally is carried out to provide the predominant source of income. That is why this research distinguishes primary and secondary activities. The 12 companies in the research area are involved in 4 types of agricultural productions [57]: • Milk production: 9 out of 12 (75%) companies are involved in the production of milk, but in 1 case the milk production is a secondary activity. The companies use cows to produce the milk. The cows eat the grass from the pasturelands and in most case the milk is extracted mechanical. With respect to the cows, there are two types of milk cows: normal and dry cows. Whenever a cow is dry, this means that for a certain period the cow does not produce milk. The milk goes to CoopeLeche, a co-operative located in San Ramón who processes the milk, or to local markets like soda’s or individuals. • Meat production: 3 out of 12 (25%) companies are involved in the production of meat, but the production of meat is in all 3 cases a secondary activity. Besides cows, used for milk also some cows are sold for their meat. The meat and milk cows are located on the same pasturelands. The meat is sold to butchers on local markets. • Ornamental plants: 3 out of 12 (25%) companies cultivate ornamental plants. Ornamental plants are green plants that are cultivated in this region because of the fact that the climate is very suitable. The plants are cultivated in pots or full ground. Constructions of cloth protect the plants against too much sun and hold the humidity near the ground. During the dry season the main part of the ornamental plants are wrapped up for transport. The main part of the ornamental plants is exported, also towards Holland. • Eggs: 1 out of 12 (8%) companies produces breading eggs. This company uses chicken to bread eggs. These eggs are sold to chicken farms where the eggs are used to bread chicken for meat production. The company has large barns where the chickens are located. The farm is located in La Balsa because of the tranquil environment without too many cars and villages. The eggs are sold to chicken farms in Palmares. Fig 10.1: Ornamental plants company 10.

Table 10.1: type of agricultural productions 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Primary activity milk milk milk plant eggs milk milk plant milk plant milk milk Secondary activity - - meat milk - - meat - - - - meat Source: [57].

10.2 Size of the economic activities productive property The productive property1 of a company is that part of the property where the production factors 400

(cows, plants or chicken) and facilities (barns, 350 stables) are located. In this research, the size of 300 the productive property (see table and fig. 10.2) reflects the size of the company. The average size 250 of the productive property of the 12 companies Ha. 200 equals 72 hectares. According to this average 150 three types of companies can be distinguished: 100 • Large-sized company (L): a large-sized company has a productive property 50

0 significantly higher (>10%) than the average. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2 out of 12 companies can be defined as company large-sized. • Medium-sized company (M): a medium- Fig 10.2: size of productive property in hectares.

1 Productive property: this is that part of the property of the company which is actually under production.

Main report 40 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

sized company has a productive property close to the average. 3 out of 12 companies can be defined as medium-sized. • Small-sized company (S): a small-sized company has a productive property significantly less (>10%) than the average. 7 out of 12 companies can be defined as small-sized.

Table 10.2: size of productive property 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 average Size of productive 70 23 380 6 85 12 18 64 23 25 150 7 72 property (Ha.) Size of activity M S L S M S S M S S L S - Source: [57].

Both large-sized companies are primarily involved in the production of milk. Company 3 is also involved in the production of meat. The activity of the medium sized companies varies. They produce milk, breading eggs or ornamental plants. 5 out of 7 small-sized companies are primarily involved in the production of milk. Two other small-scaled companies are primarily involved in the production of ornamental plants.

10.3 Present economic results Data of the present economic results give an indication of the economic size of the company. The data are summarised in the following table.

Table 10.3: present economic results Company Product Production Gross income Profit rate Employees #1 Milk 400 litres / day US$107 / day 45% 1 employee #2 Milk 345 litres / day US$107 / day 40% 1 employee (owner) #3 Milk 1200 litres / day US$340 / day 40% 24 employees Meat 2000 kg / year US$2985 / year 30% #4 Ornamental plants 12000 plants / year US$5970 / year 50% 1 employee (owner Milk 42 litres / day US$13 / day - #5 Eggs 200.000 eggs/month US$40.000 / month 20% 10 employees #6 Milk 500 litres / day US$132 / day 55% 1 employee (owner) #7 Milk 150 litres / day US$53 / day 40% 1 employee (owner) Meat 1200 kg / year US$1343 / year 40% #8 Ornamental plants 1.000.000 plants / year US$800.000 / year 57% 50 employees #9 Milk 345 litres / day US$107 / day 40% 1 employee (owner) #10 Ornamental plants 450.000 plants / year US$315.000 / year 50% 50 employees (owner) #11 Milk 2500 litres / day US$694 / day - 5 employees #12 Milk 100 litres / day US$21 / day - 1 employee Meat 2000 kg / year US$1940 / year - Source: [57].

Main report 41 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

11. Impacts on the economic environment of the 12 companies In previous chapters the change in land-use has been identified. Whenever one of these land-uses is part of the economic environment of the companies this can have an impact on the physical inputs used by the companies. In this chapter the changes in the economic environment of the 12 companies are assessed. The following indicators are used to define the type of physical inputs provided by the economic environment (see appendix 6): • Natural resources like agricultural land and water used by the 12 companies; • Suppliers of primary and semi-finished goods, or those companies that supply the 12 affected companies; • Labour force working at the 12 companies; • Means of production, these are the non-human tools used in the productive process like production factors cows, chicken or plants and production facilities like stables or barns; • Services, in this research the road network and the electricity network.

Within the research area the following land-use changes are identified (see characteristics of structure 6 in appendix 14): • Agricultural land will disappear into the reservoir • A part of the river Balsa will disappear into the reservoir • Forested areas will disappear into the reservoir • A part of the national road N702 and regional road will disappear into the reservoir • Some houses of the village La Balsa will disappear into the reservoir • Instead of aforementioned present land-uses a reservoir will appear • A new national road will be located around the reservoir • A hydro-plant generating electricity will appear near the reservoir

11.1 Natural resources

11.1.1 Agricultural land This land-use is directly related to the economic environment of the 12 companies. The affected agricultural land is property of the companies.

Quantity For their economic activities the 12 companies rely upon their agricultural land. With respect to the agricultural activities the size of the productive property is important. The following table shows the present size of the productive properties.

Table 11.1: size of present productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hectares 70 23 380 6 85 12 18 64 23 25 150 7 Source: [57].

Impact1 After implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior parts of the present productive property will be affected. The size of the present productive property will therefore change. The following table shows the change in the size (absolute and proportional) of the present productive property (the size of the affected productive property1).

Table 11.2: change in size of productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hectares -57 -20 -60 -5 -17 -10 -14 -47 -18 -20 -23 -7 Percentage -81 -87 -16 -83 -20 -83 -78 -73 -78 -80 -15 -100 Source: [57].

After implementation of the reservoir all economic activities have to take measures to adapt the economic process to the changed size of the productive property. The type of measure depends on the size of the non- affected productive property2 (or the remaining productive property). The following data show the size (absolute and proportional) of the non-affected productive property.

1 Affected productive property: that part of the productive property affected by the reservoir. 2 Non-affected productive property (or remaining productive property): that part of the productive property that is not affected by the reservoir.

Main report 42 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 11.3: size of non-affected productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hectares 13 3 320 1 68 2 4 17 5 5 127 0 Percentage 19 13 84 17 80 17 22 27 22 20 85 0 Source: [57].

These data show that all companies are affected. • Impact 1: decrease in size of productive Percentage of affected productive property

property. All companies are affected and the 100

size of the productive property will decrease. 90

80

The average rate of affection equals 66%. The 70 data show that, compared to this average, the rate 60 of affection of the productive property is either % 50 high or low: 40

• High rate of affection (HRp): the 30

percentage of affected productive property is 20

higher than 66%. Companies 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10

9, 10 and 12 loose a relatively large part of 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 their productive property. Company • Low rate of affection (LRp): the percentage of remaining productive property is less than Fig 11.1: percentage of affected productive property 66%. Companies 3, 5 and 11 loose a relatively small part of their productive property.

Data shows that large-sized companies 3 and 11 have low rates of affection (company 5 has the largest productive property of the medium-sized companies and also has a low rate of affection) and that medium and small-sized companies have high rates of affection of the productive property.

Remark The means of production (production factors and production facilities) are located on the productive property of the company. The change in productive property can also have an impact on the means of production. But, this impact is strongly related with the type of measure taken to mitigate the change in productive property. Therefore, the impact on the means of production is elaborated in chapter 12.

Accessibility Before implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior the companies are all accessible by either the national road N702 or the regional roads located near La Balsa. The following map shows the location of the present entrance [57] of the companies.

Map 11.1: present location of entrance of the company.

Main report 43 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Impact 2 Aforementioned map shows the present location of the entrances. This map also shows that some of the companies are no longer accessible after implementation of the reservoir. These companies have to take measures mitigate the changed accessibility. • Impact 2: Disappearance of access to the company. Companies 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 have to mitigate the consequence of loss in accessibility by taking measures to adapt the economic process to the new economic environment.

Table 11.4: change in accessibility of the company. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Is property still yes no yes no no no no no yes no yes no accessible? Source: [56].

Availability CNFL will buy all affected property. Therefore, after implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior the owner of the property will be switched from the current owner to CNFL. The new land-use, the reservoir, will not be for sale!!

11.1.2 Forest Besides agricultural land, also forested areas in the research area are affected. In contrary to flower fields or pastureland the relation between the forest area and the economic activities is not that evident. A forest can have different function within the economic environment of a company: • Consumption or exploitation of the forest (example: forestry and production of wood); • Use of the forest (recreational activities like hiking trails or mountain biking).

With respect to the consumption of the forest all activities have to be reported by the MINAE San Ramón in order to get the necessary permissions. At the moment of writing no permissions for these kinds of activities are granted within the canton of San Ramón. According to MINAE San Ramón all forests in San Ramón are protected [53]. Also in case of economic use of the forest, mainly recreational, it is necessary to get permissions. ICT San José grants these permissions, but in practice no registration exists. Because of the fact that most of these activities are provided by hotels it was possible to identify importance of the forests within the research area. There aren’t any hotels located in the research area (research population). Therefore changes in the forested areas are not further elaborated in this research.

11.1.3 River Balsa Only the river Balsa is located in the research area. Like forest area, also a river can have two functions within the economic environment. The following relations between land-use and economic environment can exist: • Use of the river (example: like rafting or kayaking activities); • Consumption of water from the river (example: for irrigation or commercial fish production);

With respect to the use of the water for recreational activities, no activities are located within the research area. Within the ICT registration of water-related activities no data about the river Balsa, or the other rivers used for H.P. Balsa Superior were registered. According to Aventuras Tropicales, a raft and kayak organisation, the characteristics of the rivers in the research and project area are not appropriate for these kinds of recreational activities. There are too many rocks, the discharges are low, the water depth is too shallow and the width of the rivers varies from 1 to 6 meters.

In case of the legal consumption of water, in Costa Rica it is necessary to have permission to extract water. These permissions are granted by MINAE [49]. Within the part of the river Balsa in the project area only three of these concessions are granted, for company 5, 8 and 10. These are the only three companies, which Fig. 11.2: water intake structure. are not involved in the production of milk or meat. Companies 8 and 10 produce ornamental plants and company 5 produces breading eggs for chicken farms. These data show that the large-sized companies 3 and 11 do not have legal permission to use water from the river. Probably the livestock uses rainwater or other water sources, or these companies use the water illegally.

Main report 44 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Accessibility The co-ordinates of the permission make it possible to locate the intakes. The following map shows the present location of the intake of the companies.

Map 11.2: present location of the intakes in the river Balsa.

Impact 3 Aforementioned map shows the present location of the intakes in the river Balsa. This map shows that some of the intakes no longer have access to the river Balsa after implementation of the reservoir. These companies have to take measures to adapt the economic process to the changed accessibility. • Impact 3: Disappearance of access. The location of the intake of companies 8 and 10 is affected by the reservoir. Water from the river Balsa is no longer accessible.

Quantity The following table shows the quantities of water from the river Balsa legally used by the 12 companies. At present only three companies have permissions to use 0,5 litre / sec of water.

Table 11.5: present discharge of intake in the river Balsa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Discharge (l/s) 0 0 0 0 0,5 0 0 0,5 0 0,5 0 0 Source: [49].

Impact 4 In case the companies no longer have access to the river Balsa after implementation of the reservoir, the discharge will be totally affected. These companies loose access to 0,5 litre per second of water for the productive process. These companies have to take measures to adapt the economic process to the changed discharge. • Impact 4: Total reduction of discharge of intake. The discharge of the intake located in the river Balsa will be completely affected in case of companies 8 and 10.

Table 11.6: reduction in discharge of intake in the river Balsa. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Discharge (l/s) n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 0 n.a. n.a. -0,5 n.a. -0,5 n.a. n.a. Source: [56].

Availability MINAE San José controls all activities with respect to the natural resources within San Ramón. Compared to the discharge of river Balsa (1,22 m3/s) an intake of 0,5 litre per second is insignificant. Even after implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior, these kinds of small-scale permissions in the downstream part of the rivers will be still granted. The price of the permissions and the availability of water, therefore, do not change.

Main report 45 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

11.1.4 Reservoir The reservoir will not be part of the economic environment of the existing 12 companies in the research area. According to CNFL it is not possible to use water from the reservoir for consumption purposes, like the permissions to use water from the river Balsa. Therefore, the water from the reservoir can not be used for the agricultural activities.

11.2 Suppliers of primary and semi-finished goods The 12 companies within the research area are all involved in agricultural activities. The interview identified that there are no interrelations between these companies. This means that, for example, company 3 does not use the product produced by company 8 in its productive process. But, years ago company 4 used to sell its ornamental plants to company 10. This company exported the ornamental plants together with its own production. At the moment, these kinds of relations do not exist. The most important inputs for the 12 companies are power-fodder for the animals and agro-chemicals for the ornamental plants. These products are sold in San Ramón and H.P. Balsa Superior does not affect their availability. So, the present and future type, quantity and availability of these inputs are not affected.

11.3 Labour force The only village located in the research area is La Balsa. The consequences for the village and its inhabitants are severe; some houses within the village of La Balsa is going to disappear totally. Not all houses are located in the affected area. Approximately 10 of the 16 houses, thus 40 – 60 inhabitants have to be relocated. A village has two possible relations with the economic environment of the research population: • Supply of primary or semi-finished goods. The research population does not use inputs provided by activities in La Balsa. This because of the fact that there aren’t any activities in La Balsa besides the activities of the research population, and there are no interrelations between these companies. • Labour. Some people that, at present, live in La Balsa work on one of the affected companies. In case these employees, who have to move, in the future decide to quit their job, the economic environment of the company is affected. The type, quantity, quality and availability of new employees can change and affect the economic process. In order to measure these changes personal motivations and characteristics of employees have to be identified. This is beyond the scope of this research.

11.4 Services

11.4.1 Roads In section 11.1.3 the impact on the accessibility of the company is assessed. For some companies the location of the entrance will be affected because the N702 and the regional road will be affected by the reservoir. The impact of the disappearance of these roads can not be elaborated without taking into account the two alternative national road sections and the new locations of the entrance. The location of the new entrances is identified in section 12.2.

Quantity For the companies, the road direction towards San Ramón is more important than the road direction towards La Fortuna. The companies buy inputs in San Ramón and transport their products via San Ramón to other parts of Costa Rica. The following table shows the present distance (road length) between the companies and the centre of San Ramón.

Table 11.7: present distance towards San Ramón. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Length (km) 14,6 12,5 13 13,6 13,7 14,2 14,0 14,9 12,1 13,2 12,4 13,3 Source: [58].

Main report 46 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Impact 5 After implementation of the reservoir the present road infrastructure is affected. CNFL and MOPT have proposed to construct an alternative national road. The following map shows the changed location of the entrance related to the new national road. This map also gives an idea of the present and new route towards San Ramón.

Map 11.3: future location of entrance of the company.

After mitigation, thus the relocation of the entrance, the future distance between the company and the centre of San Ramón can be calculated. The following table shows the change in distance between the companies and the centre of San Ramón. The companies 4 and 12 are not accessible, even after construction of the new national road.

Table 11.8: change (absolute and proportional) in distance towards San Ramón. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Length (km) +4,4 -0,2 0,0 - +3,0 +0,2 -0,2 +1,6 0,0 +4,5 0,0 - Percentage +30,1 -1,6 0,0 - +21,9 +1,4 -1,4 +10,7 0,0 +34,1 0,0 - Source: [8].

The following table shows the future distance towards San Ramón.

Table 11.9: future road distance towards San Ramón. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Length (km) 19,0 12,3 13 - 16,7 14,4 13,8 16,5 12,1 17,7 12,4 - Source: [56].

As aforementioned data show the change in road quantity between the companies and San Ramón has two directions: an increase or decrease. Impact 5: change in road distance towards San Ramón. • Increase in road length. In case of companies 1, 5, 6, 8 and 10 the road length will increase. • Decrease in road length. In case of companies 2 and 7 the road length will decrease.

Quality Besides the length of the road, also the road quality can change. In this research the type of road surface represents the road quality. The following table shows the present road quality of the access roads of the companies.

Table 11.10: present road quality. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 quality A A A D A A A D A A D D Source: [57]. A = asphalt and D = dirt.

Main report 47 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Impact 6 The following table shows the quality of the access road after construction of the new national road. These data shows that all companies are accessible by an asphalt road.

Table 11.11: future road quality. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 quality A A A - A A A A A A A - Source: [8]. A = asphalt and D = dirt.

The following table shows whether a change in road quality has occurred. These data show that there is only a change from dirt road to asphalt road.

Table 11.12: change in road quality. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8* 9 10 11* 12 improvement no no no - no no no yes no no yes - Source: [cs]. * In case of company 8, only 1,4 kilometre of the total present 14,9 kilometres towards San Ramón consists of a dirt road. For company 11, only 1,1 kilometre of the total present 12,1 kilometres towards San Ramón consists of a dirt road.

Related to the change in road quality the following impacts are identified: • Impact 6: Improvement of road quality: in case of companies 8 and 11 the road quality will improve. At present, these companies are accessible by a dirt road. But, after implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior the companies are accessible by asphalt roads.

Availability The new national road will be owned by MOPT, the ministry of public transport networks. Besides the national road there will be also some new access roads that still will be owned by CNFL, these are not public. Thus, the availability of the national road will not change.

11.4.2 Electricity Fig. 11.3: slippery access road company 8. In spite of the fact that the 12 companies will be affected by a hydro- electric project, the quantity of electricity within the research area, the project area or San Ramón will not increase. The electricity will be transmitted towards the national network substation in Naranjo. The companies will not directly benefit from the generated electricity.

Main report 48 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

11.5 Conclusions Because of the implementation of the reservoir the land-use in the research area changes. The data in this chapter show that these changes in land-use can have an impact on the economic environment of the 12 companies. The following table shows the relation between the impacts and the 12 companies.

Table 11.13: relation between impacts on the economic environment and the companies. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Impact 1 x x x x x x x x x x x x Impact 2 x x x x x x x x Impact 3 x x Impact 4 x x Impact 5 x x - x x x x x - Impact 6 - x x - Source: [cs]. Remark: impacts 5 and 6 are not elaborated for companies 4 and 12 because they are regarded inaccessible after implementation of the reservoir (see section 12.2).

This research identified 6 impacts on the economic environment of the 12 companies: 1. Impact 1: decrease in the size of the productive property. The productive properties of all companies are affected by the reservoir. The decrease in productive property varies from 15 to 100%; 2. Impact 2: disappearance of access to the company. In case of 8 companies (companies 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12) the company can not use the present entrance to access the company after implementation of the reservoir; 3. Impact 3: disappearance of access to water from the river Balsa. In case of 2 companies (companies 8 and 10) the location of the water intake in the river Balsa is affected. After implementation of the reservoir, these 2 companies can no longer use these intakes; 4. Impact 4: 100% reduction of intake discharge. Whenever the access to the intakes in the river Balsa is affected, also the discharge of intake is affected. In case of companies 8 and 10 they will not have access to 0,5 litre / second of water from the river Balsa after implementation of the reservoir; 5. Impact 5: change in road distance towards San Ramón. - In case of 5 companies (companies 1, 5, 6, 8 and 10) the road distance towards San Ramón will increase because of the location of the new national road; - In case of 2 companies (companies 2 and 7) the road distance towards San Ramón will decrease because of the location of the new national road; 6. Impact 6: Improvement of road quality. In case of 2 companies (companies 8 and 11) the quality of the road will improve. After construction of the new national road the companies are accessible by an asphalt road instead of a dirt road.

Main report 49 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

12 Impacts on economic process of the 12 companies In the economic process the physical inputs of the economic environment are used to produce and provide a certain amount of products. Whenever parts of the economic environment change this can have an impact on the economic process. This research assumes that the owners of the companies will do anything to continue with their company. In chapter 14 this assumption will be revised.

In this section of the report the consequences of the change in economic environment on the economic process are elaborated. In chapter 11 the following impacts on the economic environment are identified: • Impact 1: decrease in the size of the productive property. • Impact 2: disappearance of access to the company. • Impact 3: disappearance of access to water from the river Balsa. • Impact 4: 100% reduction of intake discharge. • Impact 5: change in road distance towards San Ramón. • Impact 6: Improvement of road quality.

12.1 Consequences of impact 1: decrease in size of the productive property The implementation of the reservoir will decrease the productive property of all companies. The owners of the companies have two options to reduce the consequences of this impact. 1. Relocation (restructuring) of the means of production to the non-affected productive property. In this case it is possible to relocate the production facilities (barns, stables) to the non-affected productive property. And in this case it is also possible to increase the density of production factors (cows, chicken or ornamental plants) on remaining part of the productive property. This means that the means of production1 are relocated to the non-affected productive property. 2. Relocation (restructuring) of means of production outside non-affected productive property. In this case the availability of additional property2 is assessed. In theory, it will be possible to relocate the affected means of production to property outside the non-affected productive property. This is only theoretical because in this research it is not possible to determine the suitability of the additional property with respect to the economic activities.

12.1.1 Relocation of the means of production to the non-affected productive property

Production factors The production factors located on the productive property are the cows, chickens or ornamental plants. Two units of measurement are used to define the amount of production factors: • Unit of measurement #1: In case of the companies in La Balsa, no data on the amount of ornamental plants or chickens per hectare of productive property where available. In most cases these kinds of companies register these production factors in hectares. Therefore, in this research the assumption is made that in case of these production factors the density is optimal and that companies 4, 5, 8 and 10 can not increase the density of their production factors. • Unit of measurement #2: The amount of cows owned by the company is in all cases registered exactly. With respect to these production factors it is possible to increase or decrease the amount of production factors per hectare of pastureland. The factors of production are numerable.

The following table shows the present amount of production factors used in the productive process of the 12 companies. In this case only the companies involved in the production of milk or meat have numerable production factors: cows.

Table 12.1: present amount of production factors. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Cows (heads) 60 20 300 5 - 25 30 - 20 - 125 15 Source: [57].

The following table shows the density of the cows per hectare of present productive property (example company 1: 60 cows on 70 hectares = 0,9 cows per hectare). Calculations show that the average density equals 1,3 cows

1 Means of production: in this research the means of production are defined as the production factors like cows, chicken or ornamental plants, the production facilities like stables or barns. 2 Additional property: some companies do not have their total property under production. That part of the property that is not under production is called additional property or property located outside the productive property. When suitable, this property can be used for productive purposes.

Main report 50 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. per hectare of present productive property. The maximum density equals 2,1 cows per hectare of present productive property (companies 6 and 12).

Table 12.2: present density of production factors. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hectares 70 23 380 4 - 12 18 - 23 - 150 7 Density 0,9 0,9 0,8 1,3 - 2,1 1,7 - 0,9 - 0,8 2,1 Source: [cs].

This research assumes that an increase in the density of the production factors is only possible whenever the density of the production factors on the non-affected productive property is less than 2,1 cows per hectare of productive property. According to H. Wahle, farmer in Holland, the practical and ecological capacity is 2 cows per hectare. More cows means that the regenerating capacity of the pastureland will be affected and that additional feeding operations are necessary. The following table shows the density of the production factors related to the amount of non-affected productive property (example company 1: 60 cows on remaining 13 hectares of productive property = 4,6 cows per hectare).

Table 12.3: density of production factors on remaining productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hectare 13 3 320 1 - 2 4 - 5 - 127 0 Density 4,6 6,7 0,9 5,0 - 12,5 7,5 - 4,0 - 1,0 n.a. Source: [cs].

Conclusion Compared to a maximum density of 2,1 cows per hectare this option does not provide too many possibilities: • In case of companies 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 this option is no solution. For these companies it is not possible to continue on the non-affected productive property by increasing the density of the production factors. • In case of companies 3 and 11 the amount of production factors per hectare of productive property will be increased in order to prevent decrease in level of production.

Production facilities The production facilities, used in the productive process, are relatively few. In case of a decrease in the productive property it is perhaps possible to relocate the production facilities to the non-affected productive property. • stables for the chickens; • barn to store small equipment: tractor, food and tools; • barn to where milk installation is located.

Table 12.4: affected production facilities. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Stable x Barns x x x x x x x Offices x Source: [57].

Table 12.5: size of non-affected productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Acre 13 3 320 1 68 2 4 17 5 5 127 0 Source: [cs].

Conclusion • In case of companies 1, 2, 4, 7 and 9 the remaining productive property provides sufficient space to relocate the small barns, because the non-affected property consists of pastureland. The size of these barns is at maximum 10 x 10 meters (fig 12.2). This small reduction in the size of the pastureland will not significantly increase the density of cows. • In case of companies 5, 8 and 10 it is not possible to relocate the barns or offices on the remaining productive property because all of the productive property is used for chickens stables or flower fields.

Fig. 12.1: small barn of company 2.

Main report 51 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

12.1.2 Relocation of means of production outside non-affected productive property

Production factors Whenever it is not possible to relocate the production factors on the non-affected productive, relocation to property outside the non-affected productive property is an option. Relocation of the affected means of production is possible whenever there is sufficient and suitable (not part of this research) property besides the affected property.

The following table shows the size of the present non-productive property. The non-productive property equals the size of the total property minus the size of the productive property (example company 1: 75 hectares of total property – 70 hectares of productive property = 5 hectares of non-productive property). This non-productive property can be used to relocate the affected means of productions.

Table 12.6: size of present non-productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total property 75 23 780 6 340 12 18 803 23 83 150 7 in hectares Prod. property 70 23 380 6 85 12 18 64 23 25 150 7 in hectares Non-product. 5 0 400 0 255 0 0 739 0 58 0 0 prop. in Ha. Source: [57].

The following table shows the ratio between non-productive property and the affected productive property. This ratio shows, which percentage of the affected productive property can be relocated to the present non-productive property (Example company 1: only 5 hectares of the 57 hectares of affected productive property can be relocated, this is (5/57)*100 = 9%).

Table 12.7: rate of possible relocation of affected productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Affected prod. 57 20 60 5 17 10 14 47 18 20 23 7 prop. in Ha. Rate of 9 0 667 0 1500 0 0 1572 0 290 0 0 relocation (%) Source: [cs].

Conclusion • Relocation of the production factors does not provide 900 opportunities for the companies 800 Total property

2, 4, 6, 7, 9 11 and 12. But, Property under production company 11 can increase the 700 Affected property density of production factors to continue the production (see 600

section 12.1.1). 500 • In case of companies 3, 5, 8 and Ha. 10 it is possible to relocate 400

100% of the affected means of 300 production (production factors and production facilities) to 200

property outside the non- 100 affected productive property. 0 Relocation provides, whenever 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 the grounds are suitable, Company opportunities for company 5, 8 and 10 to continue the Fig 12.2: size of total, productive and affected property in hectares. productive activities of the company. But, in case of company 3 this is not necessary because in their case increase of density of the production factors is sufficient and less costly (see section 12.1.1). Company 1 can relocate 9% of the affected productive property whenever the additional property is suitable.

Main report 52 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Aforementioned data shows that in all cases it is possible to relocate the affected production facilities. But, not in all cases it is possible to relocate the affected production factors. Whenever it is not possible to relocate the production factors, the change in the size of the productive property will have an impact on the amount of production factors. In case aforementioned options do not provide a solution, it is necessary to assess if it is possible to continue on the non-affected productive property.

12.1.3 Continuation on non-affected productive property In case of companies 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 12 it is not possible to mitigate the decrease in productive property by relocation of the cows. These companies are all involved in the production of milk and / or meat.

Data showed that the average amount of cows per hectare equals 1,3 and that the largest amount of cows per hectare equals 2,1. This research assumes that 2,1 cows per hectares is the absolute maximum capacity. According to H. Wahle, farmer in Holland, the practical and ecological capacity is 2 cows per hectare. More cows means that the regenerating capacity of the pastureland will be affected and that additional feeding operations are necessary. The following table shows the maximum amount of production factors on the non- affected productive property (example company 1: 18 hectares of non-affected productive property x 2,1 cows per hectare = 38 cows).

Table 12.8: maximum amount of production factors on non-affected productive property. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Non-aff. prod. 18 3 - 1 - 2 4 - 5 - - 0 prop. in Ha. Capacity of 38 6 - 2 - 4 8 - 10 - - 0 cows (heads) Source: [cs]. Remark: non-affected productive property of company 1 equals 13 + 5 = 18 hectares ( because of 9% of relocation).

The following table shows the absolute and proportional reduction in the present amount of production factors. The total amount of production factors – the maximum amount of production factors = decrease in production factors (example: company 1 has at present 60 cows, after implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior it is possible to keep 38 cows. This means a reduction of 22 cows or 37% of the present amount of production factors).

Table 12.9: decrease (absolute and proportional) in present amount of production factors. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Absolute 22 14 - 3 - 21 22 - 10 - - 15 Percentage 37 70 - 60 - 84 73 - 50 - - 100 Source: [cs].

Conclusion • For companies 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9 data seem to indicate that the decrease in productive property means that the level of production and income will significantly decrease. For company 4, which also has 2 hectares of ornamental plants the decrease in production is larger than 60%: or 100% loss of the 2 hectares of ornamental plants and 60% loss in the production of milk. Or 100% loss of the production of milk and a 50% loss of the production of ornamental plants (from 2 hectares to 1 hectare). • For company 12 this option does not provide a solution. The consequence of the decrease in productive property is that this company can not continue functioning in La Balsa.

12.2 Consequence of impact 2: disappearance of access to the company After implementation of the reservoir the companies 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12 are no longer accessible.

Main report 53 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

The new national route provides opportunities to relocate the entrance of the company. The previous map (Map 12.1: future location of the entrance of the company) shows the (possible) future locations of the entrances of the companies.

. Conclusion • In case of companies 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 the disappearance of access signifies that the company has to relocate the entrance of the company. But, in case of companies 2, 6 and 7 the distance of relocation is relatively small. For these companies, the impact on the economic process or costs shall be very small. After relocation, the access of the company is no longer affected. • Relocation of the entrance is not enough for company 4. In order to remain accessible this company has to construct a private road to get access to the nearest national road. The elaboration of this consequence is beyond the scope of this research. • Company 12 is no longer accessible within the future road infrastructure.

12.3 Consequence of impact 3: disappearance of access to water from the river Balsa Whenever the intake locations can be relocated to locations outside the affected area, the access of water from the river Balsa will be no longer affected. In case of both affected companies it is possible to relocate the intakes to other parts of the river Balsa, which is still located on the properties. The following map shows the future location of the intake locations.

Map 12.2: future location of intakes in the river Balsa.

Conclusion • In case of companies 8 and 10 the consequence of the disappearance of the intake location is that both companies have to relocate the intake structures.

12.4 Consequence of impact 4: 100% reduction of intake discharge Impact 3 does not have consequences for the quantity of discharge of the intakes after relocation of the intakes to non-affected parts of the river Balsa.

Conclusion • Whenever the intakes are relocated also the quantity of intake is no longer affected. The 2 affected companies can also in the future use 0,5 litre / sec of water from the river Balsa.

12.5 Consequence of impact 5: change in road distance towards San Ramón With respect to the economic process the change in road quantity will have an impact on the travel time towards San Ramón. The road to San Ramón is used for the transport of inputs and outputs. A change in travel time can affect the costs of transport. Company 4 and 12 are excluded because these are no longer accessible.

Whenever the quantity of the road changes, also the quality can change. According to ProDUS the average velocity on a national road is 60 km/h. (example company 1: the road distance increases with 4,4 km. At a speed of 60 km/h this means that the travel time will increase with (60 min / (60 km/h : 4,4 km) = 4,4 minutes. The following table shows the change in travel time due to change in road quantity.

Main report 54 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 12.10: change in travel time (absolute and proportional) due to change in road quantity. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Change (min) +4,4 -0,2 0,0 - +3,0 +0,2 -0,2 +1,6 0,0 +4,5 0,0 - Percentage +30,1 -1,6 0,0 - +21,9 +1,4 -1,4 +9,0 0,0 +34,1 0,0 - Source: [cs].

Conclusion • In case of companies 1, 5, 6, 8 and 10 the travel time will increase with 1,4 to 34,1%; • In case of companies 2 and 7 the travel time towards San Ramón will decrease with resp. 1,6 and 1,4%.

12.6 Consequence of impact 6: improvement of road quality With respect to the economic process the change in road quality will also have an impact on the travel time towards San Ramón. According to ProDUS, the average velocity on a dirt road is 30 km/h. In case of companies 8 and 11 the road quality changes. The change in travel time equals the difference between the travel time at a current speed of 30 km/h and at a speed of 60 km/h in the new situation. (example company 11: the new national road will replace a distance of 1,1 kilometre of dirt road. The time saved to travel the same distance on a national road equals (60 min / (30 km/h : 1,1 km) – (60 min / (60 km/h : 1,4 km) = 0,8 minutes. The following table shows the change in travel time due to change in road quality.

Table 12.11: change in travel time (absolute and proportional) due to change in road quality. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Change (min) n.a. n.a. n.a. - n.a. n.a. n.a. -1,4 n.a. n.a. -0,8 - Percentage n.a. n.a. n.a. - n.a. n.a. n.a. -8,0 n.a. n.a. -6,5 - Source: [cs].

Conclusion • In case of companies 8 and 10 the travel time towards San Ramón will decrease with resp. 1,4 and 0,8 minutes (or 8,0 and 6,5%) due to change in road quality.

Main report 55 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

12.7 Conclusions In chapter 11 the impacts on the economic environment of the 12 companies are identified. In this chapter the consequence of these impacts on the economic process is elaborated. The following table shows the relation between the impacts and the 12 companies.

Table 12.12: relation impacts on economic process and the companies. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Impact 1.1 x x Impact 1.2 x x x Impact 1.3 x x x x x x x Impact 2.1 x x x x x x x Impact 2.2 x x Impact 3.1 x x Impact 4.1 x x Impact 5.1 x - x x x x - Impact 5.2 x - x - Impact 6.1 - x x - Source: [cs]. Remark: impacts 5.1, 5.2 and 6.1 are not elaborated for companies 4 and 12 because they are regarded inaccessible after implementation of the reservoir (see section 12.2).

The following consequences for their economic processes are identified: • Consequence of impact 1: decrease in size of productive property. • Impact 1.1: Relocation of the means of production on the non-affected productive property. Companies 3 and 11 can mitigate the decrease in the size of the productive property by increasing the density of the production factors (in both cases: cows) on the non-affected productive property. • Impact 1.2: Relocation of the means of production outside the non-affected productive property. Companies 5, 8 and 10 can relocate the affected means of production to property outside the non- affected productive property. • Impact 1.3: Continuation on non-affected productive property. For companies 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 12 it is not possible to relocate the affected production factors, the small production facilities can be relocated. These companies have to continue their activities on the non-affected productive property. For these companies it means that they have to reduce the amount of production factors (cows) varying from 37 to 100%. • Consequence of impact 2: disappearance of access to the company. • Impact 2.1: Relocation of entrance. In case of companies 2, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10 it is possible to relocate the entrance of the company to another location of the property. The new national road will be located near the properties of the companies. Company 4 also has to relocate the entrance of the company, but in order to be accessible this company also has to construct a new access road. The elaboration of this impact is beyond the scope of this research. • Impact 2.2: No longer accessible. Company 12 is no longer accessible because all of the property of this company is affected by the reservoir. • Consequence of impact 3: disappearance of access to water from the river Balsa. • Impact 3.1: Relocation of the intake. At companies 8 and 10, the river Balsa is also located on the non-affected property. It is possible to relocate the intake to another section of the river Balsa. • Consequence of impact 4: 100% reduction of intake discharge. • Impact 4.1: No consequence. Because it is possible to relocate the intakes the reduction in discharge is not longer an impact on the economic process. • Consequence of impact 5: change in road distance towards San Ramón. • Impact 5.1: Increase in travel time. In case of companies 1, 5, 6, 8 and 10 the travel time towards San Ramón will increase, varying from 1,4 to 34,1%. • Impact 5.2: Decrease in travel time. In case of companies 2 and 7 the travel time towards San Ramón will decrease, varying from 1,4 to 1,6%. • Consequence of impact 6: Improvement of road quality. • Impact 6.1: Decrease in travel time. In case of companies 8 and 11 the travel time towards San Ramón will decrease, respectively 8 and 6,5%.

Main report 56 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

13 Impacts on the economic results of the 12 companies The impacts on the economic environment have consequences for the economic process. The changes in the economic process can, in the first instance, affect the economic results in two ways: • Change in level of production • Change in the costs of production But, the changes in the economic process can impact the economic results for a short period or are irreversible, thus for a longer period. The following table shows how the changes in the economic process are related with the economic results.

Table 13.1: relation between impacts on the economic process and the economic results. Level of production Costs of production Short- Company Long- Company Short- Company Long- Company term term term term Impact 1.1 Impact 1.2 x 5,8,10 x 5,8,10 Impact 1.3 x 1,2,4,6,7,9,12 x 1,2,4,6,7,9,12 Impact 2.1 x 2,4,5,6,7,8,10 Impact 2.2 x 12 Impact 3.1 x 8,10 Impact 4.1 Impact 5.1 x 1,5,6,8,10 Impact 5.2 x 2,7 Impact 6.1 x 8,11 Source: [cs].

Note: Impact 1.1: Relocation of the means of production to the non-affected productive property; Impact 1.2: Relocation of the means of production outside the non-affected productive property; Impact 1.3: Continuation on non-affected productive property; Impact 2.1: Relocation of entrance; Impact 2.2: No longer accessible; Impact 3.1: Relocation of the intake; Impact 4.1: No consequence; Impact 5.1: Increase in travel time; Impact 5.2: Decrease in travel time; Impact 6.1: Decrease in travel time.

13.1 Impact A: Short-term change in level of production Companies 5, 8 and 10 have to relocate parts of their productive property (impact 1.2). In case of company 5 this is a part of the chicken barn and the entrance. Companies 8 and 10 have to relocate the flower fields, small barns and some offices. These companies all will try to continue as long as possible on the present productive property and switch over to a completely new productive property after implementation of the reservoir. Company 5 only has to relocate the chicken from the present to the new location, this will hardly affect the level of production. Companies 8 and 10 will have, at least for a short while, two productive properties with flower fields next to each other. The level of production will hardly be affected, but the short-term costs will increase.

13.2 Impact B: Long-term change in level of production. The only impacts that affect the long-term level of production of the companies are impact 1.3 and 2.2. This research assumes that in case the amounts of production factors (cows) are reduced, the production decreases proportional (1:1). The decrease in the size of the productive property has a negative impact on the level of production of some of the companies after implementation of the reservoir. In case of company 12 the total productive property is affected and thus also the accessibility. The following table shows the decrease in production level for the different companies.

Table 13.2: change in long-term level of production. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Percentage -37 -70 0 -60 0 -84 -73 0 -50 0 0 -100 Source: [cs].

13.2 Impact C: Short-term change in production costs. Impacts 1.2, 1.3, 2.1 and 3.1 cause a short-term increase in the costs of the companies because the costs of relocation are not compensated (see appendix 12). CNFL only compensates the present value of the affected property. The costs of rebuilding or relocation will not be compensated. Therefore, relocation does affect the costs of production for a short while. After relocation, the level of production and the long-term production costs are not affected. • The consequence of impact 1.2 and 1.3 is that some of the companies have to relocate parts of the production factors (company 5: chicken stable and companies 8 and 10: flower fields) or the production facilities (companies 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10: small barns or offices). • The consequence of impact 2.1 is that in some cases (companies 4, 5, 8 and 10) the entrance of the company has to be relocated over a large distance.

Main report 57 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

• The consequence of impact 3.1 is that companies 8 and 10 have to relocate the intake structure.

The costs of relocation are not available. The following description gives an indication on the expected value of the costs of relocation. • Type 1: The costs of relocating an intake structure and the pipes are, compared to rebuilding a barn, relatively low (value: +) • Type 2: In case of the relocation of production facilities these consist of small barns. The average barn is made out of wood or a steel construction and steel roof sheets. The costs of building a new barn, compared to the construction of a new chicken stable, are relatively low (value: ++). • Type 3: Companies 4, 5, 8 and 10 have to relocate the entrance. Compared to rebuilding a barn, the costs of relocating the entrance are relatively higher because parts of the on-site road infrastructure have to be relocated (value: +++). • Type 4: Companies 5, 8 and 10 have to relocate the total productive property (chicken stables, offices, barns and ornamental plant sites), the costs of this kind of operation are far more higher than the costs of relocating a small barn or the entrance (value: ++++).

Table 13.3: Differentiation of the costs of relocation. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Type 1 + + Type 2 ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ Type 3 +++ +++ +++ +++ Type 4 ++++ ++++ ++++ Source: [cs].

13.3 Impact D: Long-term change in production costs. Impact 5.1, 5.2 and 6.1 have an impact on the travel time and travel distance. Therefore, in this section the complete impact of impact 5.1, 5.2 and 6.1 on the costs of transport is elaborated. The following table shows the changed travel distance towards San Ramón.

Table 13.4: change (absolute and proportional) in road length. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Present road 14,6 12,5 13 13,6 13,7 14,2 14,0 14,9 12,1 13,2 12,4 13,3 length (km) Change (km) +4,4 -0,2 0,0 - +3,0 +0,2 -0,2 +1,6 0,0 +4,5 0,0 - Percentage +30,1 -1,6 0,0 - +21,9 +1,4 -1,4 +10,7 0,0 +34,1 0,0 - Source: [cs].

Because of the change in road quality and quantity also the travel time does change. The following table shows the change in travel time towards San Ramón.

Table 13.5: change (absolute and proportional) in travel time due to impacts 5.1, 5.2 and 6.1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Present travel 14,6 12,5 13 13,6 13,7 14,2 14,0 17,6 12,1 13,2 12,4 13,3 time (min) Impact 5.1/ 5.2 +4,4 -0,2 0,0 - +3,0 +0,2 -0,2 +1,6 0,0 +4,5 0,0 - Impact 6.1 n.a. n.a. n.a. - n.a. n.a. n.a. -1,4 n.a. n.a. -0,8 - Change (min) +4,4 -0,2 0,0 - +3,0 +0,2 -0,2 +0,2 0,0 +4,5 -0,8 - Percentage +30,1 -1,6 0,0 - +21,9 +1,4 -1,4 +1,1 0,0 +34,1 -6,5 - Source: [cs].

13.3.1 Calculation of change in transport costs This data show that only for companies 1, 5, 8, 10 and 11 the change in travel time and travel distance will significantly change. But, two types of companies can be distinguished: • Companies with relatively low costs of transport. The companies 1 and 11 are involved in the production of milk. These companies do not have to transport the milk towards the market. CoopeLeche San Ramón collects the milk. Companies 1 and 11 only have to buy some power-fodder in San Ramón once a week. The costs of transport compared to the total costs of production are therefore assumed to be lower than in case of companies 5,8 and 10 (far less than 10%). The costs of transport of CoopeLeche will be hardly affected because they have to collect milk at 151 farms in San Ramón, the change in distance towards these 2 companies will be of no importance. • Companies with relatively high costs of transport. Company 5 transports the eggs towards Palmares and companies 8 and 10 transport the ornamental plants by truck to the harbour of Limon. The costs of transport

Main report 58 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

compared to the total costs of production are therefore assumed to be higher than in case of companies 1 and 11.

Only for the companies 5, 8 and 10 the change in the costs of transport is calculated. Calculating the costs of transport is complex. Therefore, some assumptions are made in order to give an indication of the change in the costs of transport. This research assumes that the costs of transport consist of: • Costs related to transport distance: - distance between location A and B. The costs related to the transport distance are: - The costs of gasoline used by the truck. • Costs related to transport time. There are two types of costs related to time: - Time to drive the truck from A to B. The costs related to the time to drive from A to B are: - Costs of the driver. This research assumes that the truck has only 1 driver - Time to unload or load the truck. The costs related to the time to load or unload are: - Costs of the driver.

Company 5 Company 5 has to transport the breading eggs to Palmares. The present costs of transport (San Ramón – Palmares – San Ramón) are 1692 colones: • Costs related to distance: present distance is 21,7 kilometre (13,7 km to San Ramón and from San Ramón to Palmares is 8 km). This research assumes that the gasoline consumption of a truck is 1:10 and the truck consumes Super priced 211 colones per litre. Costs are (21,7 / 10) * 211 = 458 colones one-way. • Costs related to transport time: - Time to drive: the present transport time towards San Ramón is 13,7 minutes and from San Ramón towards Palmares another 8 minutes. The wage of an employee of company 5 is 450 colones per hour. Costs are (21,7 / 60) * 450 = 163 colones one-way. - Time to unload: this research assumes that the time to unload the products is 1 hour. The costs are thus 450 colones.

The future costs of transport are 1862 colones: • Costs related to distance: future distance is 24,7 kilometre (16,7 km to San Ramón and from San Ramón to Palmares is 8 km). This research that the gasoline consumption of a truck is 1:10 and the truck consumes Super priced 211 colones per litre. Costs are (24,7 / 10) * 211 = 521 colones one-way. • Costs related to transport time: - Time to drive: the future transport time towards San Ramón is 16,7 minutes and from San Ramón towards Palmares another 8 minutes. The wage of an employee of company 5 is 450 colones per hour. Costs are (24,7 / 60) * 450 = 185 colones one-way. - Time to unload: this research assumes that the time to unload the products is 1 hour. The costs are thus 450 colones.

The increase in transport costs is (1862 / 1692) * 100 = 10%. According to Ing. R. Pujol Mesalles the costs of transport of these kinds of companies is less than 10% of the total costs of production. Due to the change in transport costs the total costs increase with 1%.

Company 8 and 10 Both companies transport their ornamental plants towards Limon at the Caribean Coast. The most significant changes in transport costs are expected for company 10, the travel time towards San Ramón increase with 34,1% (1,1% for company 8) and the travel distance towards San Ramón increase with 34,1% (10,7% for company 8).

The present distance towards Limon is approximately 250 kilometres and the present transport time 250 minutes at an average speed of 60 km/h. The future distance towards Limon is 255 kilometres and the future transport time 255 minutes. The wage of an employee at company 10 is 438 colones an hour. According to aforementioned calculations the increase in transport costs is (14936 / 14650) * 100 = 2%. According to Ing. R. Pujol Mesalles the costs of transport of this kind of companies is less than 10% of the total costs of production. Due to the change in transport costs the total costs increase with 0,2%.

Main report 59 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

14 Future economic activities The data in the previous chapters show the impacts on the economic environment, the economic process and the economic results of the 12 companies. With the help of these data it is possible to analyse why certain owners prefer or not prefer to continue their activities in La Balsa after implementation of the reservoir.

Data from the interview show the following change in presence of economic activities. These data show which decisions the owners have made with regard to continuation of the activity.

Table 14.1: future economic activities 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Continuation no no yes no yes no no yes no yes yes no Source: [57].

Company 1 This is a medium-sized company dedicated to the production of milk. The rate of affection of this company is high, 81% of the productive property is affected. But, this company also has some additional property that makes it possible to relocate the barn. However, there is not sufficient space to relocate all cows and therefore company 1 has to reduce the amount of production factors with 37%. The income of the company is low. The company its productive process is in hands of 1 employee. The profit of this company provides the family income of the owner. A reduction of 37% will significantly affect this income.

There are also short-term and long-term costs that affect this company. The entrance and a small barn have to be relocated and the transport distance towards San Ramón increases with 30%. However, this will hardly affect the total costs of this company because Coopeleche visits this farm to collect the milk. Besides this, the costs of transport will be low for this type of company.

According to these data, after implementation of the reservoir the continuation of this company seems not very lucrative. But, the owner has another motivation. He is 74 years old and quits the activities after implementation of the reservoir because he is going to retire then.

Companies 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 These companies are all small-sized companies and all of the companies are involved in the production of milk or meat. Another characteristic of these companies is that the owner is the only employee. The average level of gross income and the average profit rate show that the average monthly net income equals US$1038. This can be seen as profit. But, actually this is profit of the company without subtraction of the costs of employment of the owner. For these small-sized companies the profit is used to invest in the company and as family income.

These small-sized companies are also the companies where the rate of affection is high. More than 73% of their productive property is affected. Therefore, the remaining productive property is not sufficient enough to relocate the production factors, in all cases cows. Another characteristic of these small-sized companies is the fact that the company has no property besides the productive property, therefore relocation options are no solution. Because of the decrease in productive property it is necessary to reduce the amount of production factors which affects the production and income.

The rates of reduction in income vary from 60% to 84%. This means a strong reduction in the income of the family. This income is used to pay for the house, buy food, to pay for the children who go to school etc. This reduction in income is the main reason why these companies prefer to start somewhere else.

In case of these companies the short-term costs of relocation are low, this because of the fact that the productive process of milk and meat production does not require much production facilities. The costs of relocating a small barn will not be the reason why these owners decide to quit. Only, in case of company 4 this could be an additional factor, because this company has to construct a private road in order to be accessible again. Also in case of these companies, the long-term impact on the costs of transport is non-significant.

Company 12 The reason why this company has to quit the activities in La Balsa is simple. The total productive property of this company is affected, the rate of affection equals 100%. Company 12 is also a small-sized company where besides the productive property no additional property exists. So, relocation does not provide any solutions.

Main report 60 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Companies 3 and 11 The data in the previous chapters showed that companies 3 and 11 are hardly affected. Companies 3 and 11 can be characterised as large-sized companies with a low rate of affection (16 and 15%). Both companies are involved in the production of milk and meat. This makes it possible to increase the density of the cows on the remaining productive property. This does not affect production or the costs of production.

Companies 3 and 11 are not affected in any other way. No production facilities are located on the affected productive property, the accessibility of the companies does not change and also the travel distance towards San Ramón does not change. In case of company 11 the travel distance towards San Ramón does decrease with 6,5 % or 0,8 minutes. This will hardly have any impact on the costs of transport.

Companies 5, 8 and 10 These are the only three companies not dedicated to the production of milk or meat. These companies are dedicated to the production of ornamental plants and eggs. For companies 8 and 10 the rate of affection is high, for company it is relatively low. Relocation of the affected productive property is only possible because the companies have additional property besides the productive property.

After relocation the level of production will not be affected. But, the costs of relocation will be severe and have impact on the short-term costs. However, compared to the other companies, these companies have significantly higher gross incomes (and thus absolute higher profit). According to the owners of the companies it is lucrative to invest in relocation. It is more lucrative than to start all over again somewhere else. Data also show that for these companies, the long-term costs of these companies are hardly affected by the change in transport time.

14.2 Conclusions 7 out of 12 companies have to quit their activities. The main reason for these companies to quit their activities is: • The significant reduction in the level of production.

In case of these companies the level of production is affected by impact 1.3, which is caused by impact 1: the decrease of the size of the productive property. The costs of relocation in case of the 7 affected companies are relatively low as well as the change in costs of transport. These impacts are therefore not the reason to quit the activities. The following table summarises the characteristics of the 7 affected companies and the 5 companies, which continue their activities.

Table 14.2: Characteristics of the 12 companies. Companies that do not disappear Companies that disappear • 2 out of 5 companies are large-sized, 2 are medium-sized and 1 • 6 out of 7 companies are small sized. is small-sized. • 2 out of 5 companies are involved in meat and milk production, • 7 out of 7 companies are involved in the production of meat 2 in ornamental plants production and 1 in the production of and milk. eggs. • The average number of employees of these companies is 28 • 7 out of 7 companies do not have more than 1 employee. In employees. 5 out of 7 cases the owner is the only employee. • The income of these companies is high compared to the • The income of these companies is low compared to the non- affected companies. Profit is real-time profit of company. affected companies. Profit is personal income of the owner. • 1 out of 5 companies has its total property under production. 4 • 7 out of 7 companies have their total property under out of 5 companies have less than 30% under production. production. • For 5 out of 5 companies relocation of the affected means of • For 6 out of 7 companies relocation of the affected means of production is possible. production is not an option. Source: [57].

Main report 61 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

PART C

Conclusions and recommendations

Main report 62 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

15 Impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior vs. Sustainable Development Objectives In previous chapters the impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior on economic activities were elaborated. In this chapter the impacts are compared with the sustainable development objectives in order to assess whether the project contributes to sustainable development on regional or national level. The two relations between the National Development Plan and H.P. Balsa Superior identified in chapter 4 are used. Also recommendations to improve or enhance the relation between H.P. Balsa Superior and the sustainable development objectives are given.

Direct relation

15.1 Electricity CNFL is going to generate 132,6 MW or 324,4 GWh of electricity by means of hydropower [2]. The national electricity demand is expected to grow around 5,7% annually until 2020 [15]. To meet the growing power demand, the sustainable development objectives call for the building of 29 new power plants, mainly hydro [33]. With the power generated by the H.P. Balsa Superior CNFL meets the objective to provide electricity by means of hydropower, in order to meet growing demand. CNFL also wants to become more competitive within the electricity sector and therefore less dependent on the sale of electricity from ICE [51]. With H.P. Balsa Superior CNFL also meets the objective to increase the availability and efficiency of services (area of action: physical capital) [41].

15.1.1 Conclusions

Table 15.1. Regional National H.P. Balsa Superior is not going to contribute to the CNFL is going to generate 132,6 MW or 324,4 GWh availability of electricity in the region. The generated of electricity by means of hydropower. In 1999 the electricity of H.P. Balsa Superior will be transmitted national generation of electricity was 6190 GWh to a sub-station in Naranjo, from where the electricity [14]. This means that the national availability of will go to the national network. The generated electricity will increase with 5,2 % [cs]. This is a electricity will therefore not directly benefit the contribution to meet the sustainable development project area or the canton of San Ramón. Indirectly objectives. the canton of San Ramón will benefit from the increase in the availability of electricity that can have a positive impact on the economic activities in the region. Such as the establishment of agro-based industries which need more electricity. However, at the moment it is not possible to determine exactly to which the canton will benefit from the generated electricity.

15.1.2 Recommendations From the above the following recommendations can be formulated.

Table 15.2. Short-term Medium to long-term CNFL SETENA1 • The linkages between national generation and • CNFL has to be obliged to distribute a certain the regional distribution of electricity have to be percentage of the generated electricity within the investigated more in detail. San Ramón can use region to stimulate electricity-intensive activities. this data to determine to which degree the This has to become a new obligatory mitigation available amount of electricity will change. measure to increase the benefits of hydro-power San Ramón projects in the region. At this moment no • The municipality and its institutions have to mitigation measures are included in this respect. assess the electricity demand for the economic activities in the region. With this also has to be assessed which (electricity-intensive) economic activities are or can be important for the development of the region.

1 SETENA: National Commission on Environmental Impact Assessment. SETENA implements the regulations on EIA and is responsible for the analysis and follow-up of an EIA. Her approval is needed to initiate a proposed project (see appendix 3).

Main report 63 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Indirect relation

15.2 Physical structures The most important physical structures of H.P. Balsa Superior are the reservoir and the new access roads (including new national road) which have an impact on the present land-use and the present economic environment of the 12 investigated companies in this research project.

15.2.1 Reservoir Next to the generation of electricity, the only relation between the reservoir and economic activities is that the reservoir can also be used for small-scale, non-motorised recreational or tourist activities. This supports the objective of the National Development Plan, which is to stimulate regional development by increasing the competitive position of the tourism sector [41]. San Ramón wants to create concentrated areas for tourism instead of scattered locations for tourism. The canton also wants to focus on ecological tourism to conserve the natural resources and on scientific tourism (language courses and investigation on Universidad de Costa Rica in San Ramón) [21].

15.2.1.1 Conclusions

Table: 15.3. Regional National An unfavourable natural environment of low The study revealed that the reservoir will not be temperatures and rain, together with large, muddy important for the national tourism. The reservoir can reservoir banks decrease the possibility to compete not compete with national tourist attractions like with other, comparable, tourist attractions like Lake Monteverde, the Volcanoes or the beaches. Arenal or the beaches. Based on this, together with a relatively basic tourist infrastructure, the current little amounts if visitors, little promotion of the region and low investment interests, can be concluded from this research that there are only few and small-scale possibilities to extend tourism in the region. The reservoir provides opportunities to rent a kayak or to picnic. Because of the fact that the new national road is located on top of the main dam, this could provide opportunities for the establishment of an information centre including a restaurant for the small-scale provision of food and beverages and (local) souvenirs to visitors. Perhaps also guided tours on the project- site can be provided. The information centre can provide employment for regional labour (see appendix 16 for explorative study).

15.2.1.2 Recommendations The exploratory study (see appendix 16) on possibilities to develop tourist or recreational activities around the reservoir assesses (globally) the opportunities and the constraints.

Table 15.4. Short-term Medium to long-term CNFL San Ramón • As first initiative to promote tourism around the • The discrepancies between the regional supply reservoir, CNFL has to design, construct and side and demand have to be investigated and finance the information centre. removed. • The reservoir has large “dry” reservoir banks. • At the moment there is little national or CNFL has to investigate which parts of the international demand for tourist or recreational reservoirbank are the most appropriate sites to activities in San Ramón. Promotion of the canton locate waterside recreation activities. by means of a tourism office (ICT) in the city San Ramón San Ramón is necessary. With respect to the • The reservoir provides opportunities with respect reservoir it is important to promote the N702 as a to the rental of kayaks, to windsurf or to recreate beautiful alternative (instead of the road to (swimming, picnic, walking). The municipality Zarcero) to go up north to tourist attractions as has to do an in-depth study on the regional and Arenal, La Fortuna or Caño Negro.

Main report 64 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 15.4 (cont.). Short-term Medium to long-term national demand for this kind of activities in San Ramón. Because of the low regional investment interests (municipality, districts and CNFL) it is necessary to investigate the investment opportunities, perhaps with help of ICT.

15.2.2 Roads The development objective within the areas of action “physical capital” and “regional development” is to improve the physical infrastructure, because according to the National Development Plan 47% of the national roads and more than 50% of the regional roads is in bad condition [41].

15.2.2.1 Conclusions

Table 15.5. Regional National Within the project area a length of 16,1 km of new Although there are small-scale improvements in the national and regional roads will be constructed. Also road network, which is a benefit for the region, on a a distance of 17,8 km of existing regional roads will national level this will not contribute to a large be upgraded [56]. This is just a fraction of the total extend to the total national physical infrastructure. national and regional road network in San Ramón. But, this research learned that for some of the 12 companies the travel time and travel distance does change significantly positive or negative. However, in case of these 12 companies the change in the road network hardly will affect the costs of transport.

15.3 Land-use This research learned that in 6 out of 7 cases the decrease in productive property is the reason that the company will disappear after implementation of the reservoir. Thus, the most important land-use that will change within the economic environment is that of agricultural land. The 7 companies that will disappear are involved in three types of economic activities. The land-use is related to ornamental plants, meat production or milk production. The disappearance of this land-use (natural resource) is in conflict with the objective to preserve natural resources and to increase the sustainability of hydropower (area of action: natural capital) [25].

15.3.1 Conclusions

Table 15.6. Regional National • Ornamental plants The small changes in the productive area of the At the moment approximately 350 acres of land is different economic activities show that these specific used in the canton of San Ramón for the production land-uses within San Ramón are hardly affected. On of ornamental plants [19]. The only affected a national level these changes will be of no company in La Balsa does have 2 acres of land under importance. production. This is 0,57% of the total productive area [cs]. This impact hardly affects the sustainable development objectives. • Milk production At the moment approximately 10.000 acres of land is used for the production of milk in San Ramón [19]. The 7 affected companies in La Balsa do have 157 acres of land under production. This is 1,57% of the total productive area [cs]. This impact hardly affects the sustainable development objectives. • Meat production At the moment approximately 15.000 acres of land is used for the production of milk in San Ramón [19]. The 2 affected companies in La Balsa do have 25

Main report 65 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 15.6 (cont.). Regional National acres of land under production. This is 0,17% of the total productive area [cs]. This impact hardly affects the sustainable development objectives.

15.3.2 Recommendations

Table 15.7. Short-term Medium to long-term CNFL San Ramón • In order to mitigate the impact of the project on • H.P. Balsa Superior affects the land-use related natural land-uses and natural resources, CNFL to agricultural economic activities. In order to has to compensate the loss in land-use by prevent that hydro-projects affect the natural replacement. For example, reforestation resources or the economic environment of programs and the maintenance of ecological economic activities it is necessary to map land- discharge of rivers. uses. This is also applicable on national level. • The municipality and its institutions have to elaborate the relation between the present land- uses and the economic activities within the canton of San Ramón. Together with the new regulatory plan this database will help the municipality to analyse the appropriateness of new projects in relation to present economic activities.

15.4 Economic activities This research shows that within the canton of San Ramón 7 companies are going to disappear due to the implementation of H.P. Balsa Superior. This will affect the economic results of those companies. Literature [25 and 27] shows that there is a relation between National Development and economic results of economic activities and therefore this non-targeted output can conflict with the sustainable development objectives.

15.4.1 Production and income With regard to economic activities the National Development Plan has set objectives to increase productivity, the differentiation of the produced products and the regional improvement of the competitive position of the agricultural sector [41]. San Ramón therefore wants to emphasise on non-traditional products like ornamental plants or citrus and the integration of production, processing and distribution (creating more competitive agro- industry) [21]. With respect to income the assumption is made that, on average, the income level has a 1:1 relation with the production. No data is available about the total regional income and the importance of the different sectors within the regional income generation.

15.4.1.1 Conclusions

Table 15.8. Regional National • Ornamental plants In case of milk and meat production the regional The total affected annual production of ornamental levels of production are hardly affected. On a plants is 12.000 pieces. The total affected annual national scale this rate of affection will have no gross income generated is US$5970 [57]. Because of impact. The level of production of the milk the fact that the cultivation of ornamental plants is a production is affected by 5,4% on a regional scale. relatively new production in San Ramón, there are no On a national scale this is insignificant because data registers. But, land-use data has shown that there CoopeLeche has a 2% market share in the processing are only 5 large producers in San Ramón. Companies of milk against an 80% market share of Dos Piños 8 and 10 are two of those large companies. The total [19]. annual production of companies 8 and 10 equals 1.450.000 pieces. This means that compared with those companies only 0,83% of the ornamental plant production is affected [cs]. On a regional scale the production and income are hardly affected.

Main report 66 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 15.8 (cont.). Regional National • Milk production The total affected daily production of milk of the 7 companies equals 1883 litres. The total affected daily-generated gross income equals US$540 [57]. The companies sell their milk to CoopeLeche or at the local market. In the canton of San Ramón only the production of milk sold to CoopeLeche is registered. According to CoopeLeche, the total daily production of milk equals 35.000 litres [47]. This means that 5,4% of the milk production is affected [cs]. However one has to take into account that the 7 companies actually only sell 900 litres of milk (47,8%) to CoopeLeche [19]. On a regional scale the production and income is slightly affected. • Meat production The total annual production of meat of the 2 companies equals 3200 kilograms [57]. The total annual production of meat in San Ramón equals approximately 700.000 kilograms [19]. This means that 0,46% of the meat production is affected [cs]. On a regional scale the production and income are hardly affected.

15.4.1.2 Recommendations Due to the affected land-use some of the companies have to quit their activities. Some measures can be taken in order to reduce the impact of the disappearance of these economic activities.

Table 15.9. Short-term Medium to long-term CNFL SETENA • Compensation of the value of the affected • The government should get data on the effects of property is not enough. Together with the the compensation measures through evaluation municipality of San Ramón, CNFL has to studies (also see appendix 17). The identify and acquire suitable land which makes it compensation procedure should be compared possible for the affected companies to start within international procedures like World Bank again. Directives. • In order to reduce the short-term impact on income of companies CNFL has to compensate the costs of relocation.

15.4.2 Employment Another indicator of the economic results is employment. With regard to the area of action “fight against poverty” the objective is set to increase employment possibilities.

15.4.2.1 Conclusions

Table 15.10. Regional National According to the census of 2000, in the urban areas The change in employment possibilities is of no of the canton of San Ramón 5002 people have importance on a national scale. permanent employment. In the rural areas of San Ramón 9920 people have permanent employment. In total 14922 peoples do work in the canton of San Ramón. In the urban areas 1181 people are unemployed, in the rural areas this is 2314 [59]. The 7 affected companies provide employment for 8 persons, which now will disappear [57]. This equals 0,08% of the regional rural employees [cs].

Main report 67 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Table 15.10 (cont.). Regional National In the operation and maintenance phase of H.P. Balsa Superior, the plant provides employment opportunities for 3 daily shifts of 8 persons = 24 persons [48]. This equals 1% of regional rural unemployment. In case of maintenance CNFL uses the reparation-units from CNFL in San José. Only in case of small reparations like simple welding or painting local craftsman will be advised. Also the tourist and recreational possibilities around the reservoir provide small-scale employment opportunities. On a regional level the employment possibilities will hardly increase.

15.4.2.2 Recommendations In the operation and maintenance phase of the project labour is required. The tourism and recreational opportunities of the reservoir also may provide employment opportunities. But, in order to increase the employment rate of local labour it is necessary to train or educate these people.

Table 15.11. Short-term Medium to long-term CNFL n.a. • CNFL has to provide employment opportunities for preferably local labour within the project. Together with the municipality of San Ramón they have to elaborate the possibilities to (re) train local labour. San Ramón • The municipality has to assess the possibilities of tourism and recreational activities in order to increase the employment possibilities in this sector. Training and education of local people makes it possible to increase the local employment rate.

Main report 68 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

16 Final conclusions

16.1 Final conclusions on the impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior on micro or company level The impact of the implementation of the reservoir on the 12 economic activities is that 7 of the present companies (companies 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 12) can not continue their activities. Several impacts of the project on the economic environment where identified, but the most important reason to quit the activities is the significant long-term decrease in the level of production and income due to the decrease in the size of the present productive property.

All 12 companies are affected by the decrease in the size of the present productive property. But, in case of the 7 companies it is not possible to mitigate the effects of this impact, because of the following reasons: • Rate of affection is high: between 73 and 100%; • The remaining productive property is too small to relocate the present amount of cows; • Continuation on the remaining productive property is only possible whenever the amount of cows decreases at a rate varying from 37 to 100%. Herewith one has to take in mind that the ratio production factors, production and income is 1:1.

In 5 out of 7 cases the owner is the only employee of the company, in the 2 other cases the owner does not work on the farm but has 1 employee. The profit of these small-sized companies is the income (or wage) of the owner. With this money he has to invest in the company ánd support the life of its family. The average net income of these companies equals US$1038. A reduction of 37 to 100% does not make it possible anymore to support life ánd to invest in the company. Therefore these companies decide to quit and start somewhere else.

For companies 3, 5, 8, 10 and 11 it is possible to mitigate the consequences of the impact on the size of the productive property. These 5 companies either relocate their means of production on the remaining productive property, or relocate the means of production to property, which is at the moment non-productive. The consequence of these changes is that the costs of relocation only have a short-term impact on the economic results of the company. But, those companies with relatively high costs of relocation are at the same time those companies, which have relatively high incomes and therefore high absolute profits. These companies are also more professional and the profit is not used as personal income of the owner only. The profit can be used to reinvest. These companies have more financial capacity than the small-sized companies.

The changes in the road characteristics do, in some cases, have a significant impact on the travel distance and travel time towards San Ramón. However, the long-term impact on the costs of transport is not significant. This impact does not provide a reason to quit the economic activity.

16.2 Final conclusions on the impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior on meso or regional level Next to impacts on the 12 companies, H.P. Balsa Superior has an impact on the regional level. The disappearance of the 7 companies not only affects the economic results of the companies, but also the economic results of the canton of San Ramón. The synthesis of the research results shows that the changes in economic results of the 7 companies do not cause significant changes in the economic results of the canton of San Ramón. These changes therefore do hardly conflict with the sustainable development objectives. On a regional level, the project also provides little opportunities for the development of tourist of recreational activities around the reservoir. There are some small-scale opportunities like the rental of kayaks or the provision of food and beverages.

16.3 Final conclusions on the impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior on macro or national level The impacts on the economic results of the companies and the canton of San Ramón are not significant on a national level. The most important impact of H.P. Balsa Superior is the increase in the national amount of generated electricity. This impact of the generated electricity will trickle down and have a positive impact on regional economic activities as well.

Main report 69 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

16.4 Overall conclusions Whenever H.P. Balsa Superior will be implemented within the project area in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, 7 out of 12 companies of the research population can not continue their activities. H.P. Balsa Superior affects the economic environment of the 12 companies in different ways, but the most important impact is the decrease in the size of the productive property of all companies. This impact causes changes within the economic process. In case of 5 companies it is possible to relocate their affected productive property, but for 7 companies it is not possible to relocate their means of production. A difference in the characteristics between the companies that all 7 companies are small-sized and have their total property under production. The 5 less affected companies all have additional property. The only option for these 7 companies is to reduce the amount of cows they have.

The changes on the economic process have an impact on the economic results of the companies. The 5 companies which have to relocate their affected productive property are financial capable. The relocation will not affect the long-term production costs or level of production. The costs of production are only affected for a short-term. The changes for the 7 companies which have to reduce the amount of cows are more severe. Because of the reduction in production factors, also their production and income will decrease at the same rate. A difference between the companies is that the 7 companies are run by the owner, in 5 out of 7 cases, the owner is the only employee. The profit of these companies is used as the family income of the owner. In case of the 5 less affected companies their are on average 28 employees. The profit is not only used as income for the owner, but part of it can be reinvested. Another important difference is that the 7 companies have significantly lower absolute amounts of income than the 5 less affected companies. The decrease in income is the most important reason why the 7 companies quit their activities.

The change in costs of transport is, compared with the total costs of the companies in all cases in insignificant and will therefore not provide a reason to quit. In this research the most important impacts are due to the decrease in the size of the productive property, the agricultural land-use. This change will be caused by the reservoir. And this reservoir is necessary to generate electricity.

The loss of the agricultural land, the loss of the products and production of the 7 companies and the loss in employment provided by the 7 companies is insignificant on a regional level. The scale of tourism and recreational development around the reservoir is expected to be small and a positive impact on the development of new or existing economic activities is also supposed to be modest. The project does not have significant negative or positive impacts on a regioanl level.

However, the project has a significant and important positive impact on the availability of electricity on a national level. On a national level the (regional) economic activities can benefit from this increase amount of generated electricity. With regard to impacts on economic activities in the canton of San Ramón H.P. Balsa Superior will not have a significant negative impact on their sustainable development.

Main report 70 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

17 Recommendations for further research This research focuses on the impact of H.P. Balsa Superior on economic activities. Economic activities are just a small part of the environment. In order to see whether H.P. Balsa Superior contributes to sustainable development it is necessary to assess all impacts on the environment. This is beyond the scope of this research and therefore only recommendations for further research with respect impacts on economic activities are given.

In order to assess the impact of H.P. Balsa Superior on economic activities it is necessary to do further research: • The possibilities of relocation. In case of company 8, relocation is a theoretical option. According to the representative of the company, it is not 100% sure yet if the additional property is suitable for the production of ornamental plants. In case of company 5 the impact of the new national road on the production process has to be investigated. The chicken need a tranquil environment, and whenever the new national road is located near the chicken stables the tranquil environment can be disturbed. This needs to be investigated in further detail. • Next to the possibilities of relocation, also the exact costs of relocation have to be investigated. Together with exact data of the values of compensation it will be possible to investigate how relocation will affect the short-term costs of production. • The values of compensation have to be investigated in order to elaborate how the impacts affect the costs of production of the companies. • In this research assumptions are made with regard to the costs of transport. This has to be elaborated in further detail in order to conclude how the change in costs of transport affect the total costs of the companies. • This research only focuses on the impacts due to the physical structures present in the operation and maintenance phase. In this sense, the impacts of all phases of project Balsa Superior on economic activities have to be investigated. • This research only focuses on the economic activities directly affected by the reservoir. The impact of H.P. Balsa Superior on all directly affected economic activities located within the project area have to be assessed. Als the impact of H.P. Balsa Superior on all not directly affected economic activities has to be assessed and the impact of H.P. Balsa Superior on all for- and backward linkages of the affected economic activities has to be assessed as well.

Main report 71 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

18 Limitations

This research assesses the impact of H.P. Balsa Superior on economic activities. These impacts are compared with the regional and national sustainable development objectives. One limitation of this research is that it is not possible to judge the sustainability of H.P. Balsa Superior without taking into consideration all environmental impacts. This research evaluates the sustainability of H.P. Balsa Superior with regard to regional and national sustainable development objectives concerning the identified impacts on the 12 companies (economic activities).

Because of the large size of the project area it was necessary to limit the research area and thus, the research population. The impacts of H.P. Balsa Superior on economic activities are assessed with the help of 12 companies. The limited size of the research population does not make it possible to generalise the results. The indicators used to identify the most appropriate research population are not exclusive, and therefore the validity of the research can be affected.

This research is also limited with respect to the used research tools. The indicators used to define the research population, economic environment or economic results are probably not exclusive. After extensive research on appropriate indicators these indicators gave, due to time, money and expertise, a sufficient representation of the economic environment and economic results. But, possibly other or more indicators can increase the validity and reliability of data.

Another limitation of this research is the fact that it was in some cases necessary to make assumptions (for example in case of costs of transport and relocation) in order to draw conclusions. These assumptions decrease to a certain extent the validity and reliability of the conclusions.

Main report 72 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Sources

Books and articles 1. Bruin, B. de (1988). Assessment of socio-economic impacts of small hydro-power. Technische Universiteit Eindhoven. 2. Biosfera S.A (1999). Pre-Estudio de factabilidad de Proyecto Balsa Superior. CNFL. 3. Pujol, R and Garita, A (2000). Introducción a planes estrategicos y comparación con planes reguladores. ProDUS. 4. Canter, L.W (1996). Environmental Impact Assessment: experimental methods and approaches. McGraw- Hill, Inc. 5. Canter, L.W (1985). Impacts of growth: guide for socio-economic impact assessment and planning. Lewis Publishers, Inc. 6. Carpenter, T.G (1999). Environment, construction and development: Environmental impacts of constructions. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 7. Castro, Renato Quesada (2000). Elementos del turismo. EUNED. 8. CNFL (1999). Diseño proyecto hidroelectrico Balsa Superior. CNFL. 9. Coto, Norman Orozco (1991). Un analisis economico de la actividad turistica de Costa Rica. Universidad de Costa Rica, San José. 10. Douben, N.H (1999). Reader Inleiding en macro-economie van technologie en innovatie. 11. Economic and Political Weekly (May 26, 2000). World Commision on Dams: Democratic Means for Sustainable Ends. 12. Gaillard, H.C.J.J (2001). Ex-post beleidsevaluatie. Eindhoven University of Technology. 13. Gaillard, H.C.J.J (1995). Methodological issues cross-cultural research. Eindhoven University of Technology. 14. Heine, H and Bouwman, C (2001). Integratieproject: Sustainable development of the energy sector in Costa Rica. Eindhoven University of Technology. 15. ICE (2001). Plan de expansión de la generación electrica Costa Rica 2002-2016. ICE. 16. ICE (1998). Presas: guia práctica de diseño. ICE 17. ICT, Dirección de Planificación (1995). Plan annual operativo de ICT 1995. ICT San José. 18. ICT (2000). Encuesta Aerea de Extranjeros. ICT San José. 19. MAG San Ramón (2000). Information Bulletin 2000. MAG San Ramón. 20. Pearce, D.W (1990). Economics of natural resources and the environment. Harvester Wheatseaf. 21. ProDUS (1999). Plan estratégico urbano de San Ramón (informe de avance y final). ProDUS. 22. Slot, R. Elementaire bedrijgseconomie. Stenfert Kroese. 23. Soderstrom, E.J (1981). Social Impact Assessment. Lewis Publishers, Inc. 24. Solano, Alejandra Mata (1996). Evaluación del mercado turístico en Costa Rica. Universidad de Costa Rica, San José. 25. Szirmai, A (1994). Ontwikkelingslanden; dynamiek en stagnatie. Wolters-Noordhoff Groningen. 26. Technische Universiteit Delft (2000). Reader Civiele Techniek in Ontwikkelingslanden. 27. Thirlwall, A.P (1999). Growth and development. MacMillan Press Ltd. 28. Treweek, J (2001). Ecological Impact Assessment. Blackwell Science. 29. United Nations (1990). International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities. Department of International Economic and Social Affairs. 30. Wijk, J. van (2000). Costa Rica: going for the green? Use of EIA in Costa Rica. Wageningen University Holland.

Internet 31. Berre, R. Le. Costa Rica: recent economic developments www.iadb.org/regions/re2/sep/cr-sep.htm 32. Central Intelligence Agency (2000). Factbook Costa Rica 2000 www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/cs.html 33. Central America Fact Sheet www.eia.doe.gov 34. Countrywatch organisation. Costa Rica information www.countrywatch.com 35. Costa Rica Case Study: Environmental monitoring and accounting www.lead.org 36. Costa Rica background note 2001 http://state.gov 37. Cruz, A (2000). Costa Rica Case Study: energy generation and use

Main report 73 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

www.lead.org 38. Hansen-Kuhn, K. (1993). Structural adjustment in Costa Rica www.developmentgap.org/crisis.html#COSTARICA 39. Ledec, G. Good and bad dams: environmental and social criteria www.dams.org/submissions/text/default.php?ref=ENV102 40. Melendez-Howell, D. Costa Rica case study: The Costa Rican economy www.lead.org 41. MIDEPLAN. (1998). Plan Nacional de Desarrollo Humano 1998-2002 http://www.mideplan.go.cr/npd/Plan19982002/index.html 42. MIRIS classification www.crs.msu.edu/pdf/lclu/green_book.pdf 43. The power sector in Costa Rica www.lead.org 44. Worldbank. Costa Rica at a glance www.worldbank.org

Key-informants 45. Amores, H and Orozco, J.V. Ministry of Agriculture and Cattle breeding (MAG). San Ramón. 46. Artavia, A. Municipality of San Ramón. Department of Natural Resources. San Ramón. 47. Chaves, E. M. CoopeLeche. San Ramón 48. Delgado, W. CNFL. San José. 49. Morales, N. R. Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). Department of Waters. San José. 50. Quesada, S. B. Municipality of San Ramón. Department of Land Registry. San Ramón. 51. Ramírez, V. Q. CNFL. San José. 52. Rodriquez, O. H. Costa Rican Chamber of Social Security (CCSS). San Ramón. 53. Sandoval, E.C. Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE). San Ramón. 54. Sancho, A. CoopeCafira. San Ramón.

Other 55. Instituto Geografía Costa Rica (1978). Mapa categorias de pendientes 1:200.000. 56. ArcView GIS 57. Structured interview (see appendix 17 and 18). 58. Instituto Geografía Costa Rica (1987). Mapa fisico- politico 1:500.000. 59. INEC (2000). Censo Nacional 2000. INEC San José. Cs. Common Sense or calculations of data from other sources.

Main report 74 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

M.Sc. Theses in Technology and Development Studies: 1998 - 2002

M.Sc. Theses in Technology and Development Studies: 1998

98.01 Arwin Hoekstra: ADOBE WASI: Difusión y Transferencia de la Tecnología Constructiva Mejorada. Un Estudio de los Problemas y Opertunidades en los Asentamientos Urbano Marginales de la Ciudad del Cusco, Perú.

98.02 Suzanne Jacobs: Changing Commuter Traffic of Car Owners from San Ramon.

98.03 Marcel Radstake: The Search for an Adequate Strategy for the Development of Telecommunication in North Kivu (Zaire). Based on Experiences of the East Asian Newly Industrialised Countries (NICs).

98.04 Pascal Schreur: Analysis of the construction process of low-income housing in Costa Rica. A search for opportunities to improve the performance of the construction process and the applicability of technology- based research methodology.

98.05 Jeroen van den Brink: Scrap and Scrap Recycling in the Tanzanian Industry.

98.06 Mohini Keunen: Present and future electricity generation: possibilities and restraints of large and small scale hydro power plants, case of the State of Kerala, India.

98.07 Elma Kloosterman: The commuter traffic of Grecia, Costa Rica: Towards a more sustainable commuter traffic system programma de investigacón en Dessarollo Urbano Sostenible.

98.08 Mischa Kok: The development of an instrument to evaluate the sustainability of urban development projects.

98.09 Bert van der Plas: Energy efficiency improvement in the brown sugar industry of Costa Rica. A case study of energy conservation opportunities in small brown sugar mills in Bajo la Paz.

98.10 Jan Cloin: PV on Thatch. A search for opportunities of sustainable implementation of PV in Manicaland, Zimbabwe.

98.11 Frans Hermans: Waste load assessment of wastewater sources in and around Bais City, the Philipines.

98.12 Sander Knirim: Pre-feasibility study on bamboo matboard production in Tanzania.

98.13 Corné Spreij: Prerequisites for automation processes in developing countries.

98.14 Esther de Vreede: Transfer of Manual Pit Emptying Technology (MAPET) in Southern Africa to unplanned urban areas.

98.15 Michel Krott: Computerized automation of the metal industry of Costa Rica and its effects on employment and eduction.

M.Sc. Theses in Technology and Development Studies: 1999

99.01 Daan Kers: Industrialisation and electrcity supply: Mbagala, Tanzania as a case.

99.02 Barbara Simaeys: Electrificacion de baja escala en el bosque nublado del Ecuador: La elaboración de dos casos en la provincia del Carchi. 99.03 Ame Kraus: Housing finance in Tanzania, a survey on the demand of the low-income households for a more applicable housing finance system and how it can facilitate the introduction of new bamboo construction technologies. 99.04 Renilde Becque: The sustainability of ferrocement stairs (production) in a social housing project in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, aimed at lower-income groups.

Main report 75 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

99.05 Bas Lebbing: Energy use in small-scale brick making industries in Northeast Thailand. 99.06 Maike van Rooy: Optimisation of purchasing process for state oil company Suriname in Saramacca. 99.07 Dennis van Hunen: Technologies for municipal solid waste management in Masaya Nicaragua. A study on compost systems. 99.08 Ronald Warmerdam:Opportunities for improving solid waste management in Kanpur, India. The increase of private sector involvement. 99.09 Arjan van Bergeijk: An appropriate school for Tanzania. Evaluation of the involvement of PLAN International Tanzania in school constructions in Dar es Salaam, Coastal region, Morogor region and Mwanza municipality. 99.10 Joris van Iersel: Assessment of an appropriate drying technology for the drying of coffee by small rural producers in the south of Lempira, Honduras. 99.11 Felix Tillie: Terms of Reference for a Training Programme for Roof Tilers in Urban Tanzania. 99.12 Nathalie van Hoeven: Assessment of opportunities to improve the capacity of the Kejetia Public Transport Terminal in Kumasi, Ghana.

M.Sc. Theses in Technology and Development Studies: 2000

00.01 Eric Lakerveld: Information and Performance. The role of Quality Information Systems in a multinational electronics company.

00.02 Martijn Vis: Assessment of the Possibilities to Utilize Large Solar Water Heaters for Industrial and Commercial Sectors in Thailand.

00.03 Amber Beernink: Vehicle/Pedestrian Traffic Conflicts. Appropriate Construction Technology for a Pedestrian Crossing at Kejetia, Kumasi, Ghana.

00.04 Pascal Vlieghe: Lake Pollution and Vulnerability of Fishing Communities. Mwanza Gulf of Lake Victoria, Tanzania.

00.05 Bart Frederiks: Assessment of Sustainable Means of Private Electricity Production. A case study at Katani Ltd., Tanzania.

00.06 Rolf Verlaan: Identification of the Opportunities for Sustainable Production of Energy from Biomass Residues in Swaziland.

00.07 Anne van Hoof: Maintenance and Utilisation of physical capacity at Ghana Textile Printing Co. Ltd.

00.08 Rob van der Werff: The Value of Technical Education. A Cost/Benefit Analysis of Technical education and other Subjects of Education in Tanzania.

00.09 John Brenters: Design and financial assessment of small scale sisal decortication technology in Tanzania.

M.Sc. Theses in Technology and Development Studies: 2001

01.01 Piet Hein Breeuwsma: The Demand-led Approach to Vocational Skill Training: The Cosdec Programme Namibia.

01.02 Eduard J. Boonstra: Establishment of a Calcium-silicate unit Industry in Indonesia.

01.03 Arjan van Dal: Assessment of a more Sustainable Sanitation Technology System for a Harijan Community in India.

01.04 Benoit Chamuleau: Energy Efficient Low Cost Housing in South Africa.

Main report 76 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica.

01.05 Arnoud van Bemmelen: Energy Conservation Opportunities in Hotels in Costa Rica.

01.06 Herwich Hobbelen: Assessment of Domestic Liquid Waste Runoff, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

01.07 Sander Gelsing: Solar Home Systems in the Caprivi. Evaluation of the Technology Choice and the Implementation of Small-scale Electricity Technologies in rural Namibia.

01.08 Ilse Oosterlaken: Industry Study: Thai Building Material Industry (1960 - 2000) - "Opportunities for SMEs Producing Building Materials: Case of Northeast Thailand.

01.09 Joost Ossevoort: Systematic Assessment of Water Pollution in Ebrié Lagoon, Ivory Coast. Modelling eutrophication, followed by an inquiry into the causes and impacts of this phenomenon.

01.10 Jeroen Steman: Pre-feasibility Study on Centrifugal Pump Manufacturing in Zambia. An identification of feasible production technologies.

01.11 Krista Jansen: Future Supply and Demand for Petroleum Products in Indonesia; Challenges and Options for the Refining Sector.

01.12 Marieke de Ruijter de Wildt: The Searching Enterprise. Information Usage of Small Enterprises and Business Development Services.El Salvador.

M.Sc. Theses in Technology and Development Studies: 2002

02.01 Jeannette Klein: Water Pollution in the Accra-Tema Metropolitan Area. Sources and Impacts. Ghana.

02.02 Shila de Vries: Bamboo Construction Technology for Housing in Bangladesh. Opportunities and constraints of applying Latin American bamboo construction technologies for housing in selected rural villages of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.

02.03 An Nguyen: The Introduction of Digital Terrestrial Television in Vietnam. An opportunity study.

If you would like to receive a copy of one of the above indicated M.Sc. theses, please contact:

Department of Technology and Development Studies Eindhoven University of Technology M.Sc. research co-ordinator Mrs Dr.Ir. E.L.C. Van Egmond DG 1.02 PO Box 513 5600 MB Eindhoven The Netherlands

Main report 77