El Salvador - GFDRR

II. POPULATION AND AFFECTED AREAS | 81
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It is recommended that a nationwide Water and Sanitation Risk Management Plan be formulated
and implemented. This plan should clearly identify the prevention efforts to be carried out to
address the periodic occurrence of natural events, and all social and political stakeholders from
various areas of national, departmental and municipal governments should be involved in the
plan’s design and development.
Developing and keeping contingency plans up-to-date with regard to natural threats should be
a priority of the institutions that administer water and sanitation systems.
To prevent and mitigate the risks of effects on water and sanitation systems, it is necessary
to implement engineering measures as well as measures to raise awareness about the value
of water resources. Thus, it is important to strengthen the participation of national and local
authorities responsible for protecting water resources, and the community.
The coordinated efforts of public organizations, international coordination and NGOs have been
important in dealing with the emergency, especially in providing the means to make up for the
interruption in water and sanitation services.
B.3.2 Electricity Sector
The transmission and part of the generation of electricity in El Salvador are in the hands of state enterprises
(ETESAL and CEL), while distribution is the responsibility of private enterprises that provide public services.
In the zones affected by the disaster, DELSUR and AES operate the electricity distribution networks.
As a result of precipitation, high-water levels in rivers, and landslides falling from higher zones, the
system’s assets were partially destroyed and there were changes in the sector’s economic flows due to
increased operating costs in distribution, reduced sales of electricity to users, and—something rather unusual
in this type of disaster—savings in hydropower generation.
IMAGE 31. TRANSMISSION TOWERS
Source: CEL.