Water Directorate publishes flow concession edicts

The Water Directorate of the Ministry of Environment and Energy publishes in La Gaceta No. 170 on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, three edicts for flow concessions in the provinces of Cartago and Alajuela, intended for agro-industrial, agricultural, commercial, and human consumption use. Persons who consider themselves aggrieved by these requests have one month, counting from the first publication, to express their opposition.

The edicts are processed under the Environment and Energy section of the Water Directorate, and their publication is ordered three consecutive times in the official gazette. The requests cover springs, rivers, and streams in the communities of Tobosi (El Guarco, Cartago) and Cirrí Sur (Naranjo, Alajuela), and affect both agro-industrial producers and communities that depend on water for human consumption.

Concession in Tobosi, El Guarco

Edict ED-1139-2026 (file No. 28056) corresponds to the Tablón Water Users Society (ASOGUARCO), which requests the concession of 5 liters per second from the Purires River and several streams, with seven intake points on farms of its ownership in Tobosi, El Guarco, Cartago. The declared purpose is agro-industrial, agricultural, commercial, industrial, irrigation, and tourism, with coordinates in the cartographic sheets of Caraigres, Abra, Istarú, and Tapantí. The official reference for the edict is IN202601125054.

Concessions in Cirrí Sur, Naranjo

In Alajuela, two edicts are published regarding the same unnamed spring, with intake on the farm of Rodolfo Arroyo Zamora in Cirrí Sur, Naranjo, for human consumption and agricultural-irrigation use:

• ED-1148-2026 (file No. 28036-A), submitted by the corporation 3-101-515884, which requests 0.05 liters per second from the spring. Reference IN202601125191.
• ED-1150-2026 (file No. 28038-A), submitted by Horacio Rafael Aguilera González and Marilyn Segura Alfaro, who request 0.05 liters per second from the same spring. Reference IN202601125196.

Both intakes are located at coordinates 236.802 / 496.199 of the Naranjo sheet.

Deadline for Oppositions

In the three edicts, it is warned that those who consider themselves aggrieved must state so within the month counting from the first publication, and that the publication will be made three consecutive times in La Gaceta. The edicts were signed in San José between September 3 and 4, 2026, by the Information Department of the Water Directorate.

The publication of these edicts is a mandatory step in the administrative procedure for granting water concessions, which allows third parties with rights to the same flows or affected communities to assert their interests before the concession is granted. For the agro-industrial producers of El Guarco and the residents of Naranjo, the one-month period is the only window to oppose uses that could compete with human supply and local irrigation.

Source: La Gaceta — Official Gazette, No. 170, September 9, 2026, Environment and Energy section — Water Directorate, pp. 68-70 (official references: IN202601125054, IN202601125191, IN202601125196).