By Darwin Juarez
MANAGUA — While Nicaraguans have seen more than their share of nature's foul moods, a recent disaster brought widespread realisation that human hands can sometimes tip nature toward malevolence. Beautiful and historic Lake Nejapa suddenly disappeared.
The lake once filled a broad depression at the foot of an extinct volcano 11 km south-west of Managua. It was an important water supply as well as a hunting and fishing site. Centuries ago, its waters were thought to have tonic qualities, especially good for skin diseases.
Nicaraguans were shocked several months ago to see television reports showing a parched and withered landscape around a muddy puddle — all that remained of Lake Nejapa.
What happened to the lake? Some authorities speculated that a fissure opened in the volcanic substrate and swallowed the body of water. Others worried that the capital area's underground water table, which is declining because of overuse, took the lake down with it.
Two professors from the national university, hydrobiologist Mauricio Lacayo and geologist Luis Pilato, believe that the lake was kidnapped by a combination of factors — one natural, the other human-made.
Nicaragua has been suffering under the worst drought in memory, partly caused by a recurring meteorological phenomenon called El Nino. This is a shift in trade winds and warm ocean currents that changes regional weather patterns. In 1992, rainfall in Nicaragua was down by one-third from normal levels.
The other factor was no surprise. The lake's watershed, like much of western Nicaragua, has been stripped of its forest. Water supplies everywhere depend on vegetation upstream. Forests act like giant sponges, soaking up water during the rainy season and slowly releasing it during the summer.
With no watershed to replenish it during the current drought, Lake Nejapa withered under the tropical sun. Professors Lacayo and Pilato reported that the "fragile hydrologic equilibrium of the lake has been broken".
The news sent a shock wave through the 1.3 million residents of Managua, who now realise that the city's principal water source, nearby Lake Asososca, faces the same threats.
With assistance from Japanese scientists, the government set up a commission to study the country's water supply, which includes dozens of rivers, the woefully contaminated Lake Managua, and Lake Nicaragua.
Then came the rains, replacing fears of drought with the panic of floods. Four people died and hundreds were displaced as high water swept through parts of the capital. The downpours added a little water to Lake Nejapa, but it was a sickly ochre colour.
Environmentalists will try to keep attention focused on protection of water supplies, because they know that the next dry season will bring more water shortages. According to Pedro Gamboa, director of the Nicaraguan Environmental Movement, more than 40 rivers on the Pacific slope are now reduced to dusty trickles during the summer. [Tropical Conservation Newsbureau/Pegasus]