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Res. 29178-2025 Sala Constitucional · Sala Constitucional · 12/09/2025
OutcomeResultado
The Constitutional Chamber partially granted the amparo solely against INDER and ordered it to submit the updated water system plans within six months and to complete the project within two years.La Sala Constitucional declaró parcialmente con lugar el recurso únicamente contra el INDER y le ordenó presentar los planos actualizados del acueducto en seis meses y concluir el proyecto en dos años.
SummaryResumen
The Constitutional Chamber partially granted an amparo filed by residents of the La América Settlement in Dos Ríos de Upala, solely against the Rural Development Institute (INDER). The plaintiffs claimed that since receiving parcels around 2015, they have lacked potable water service, affecting their health and hygiene. The Chamber found that INDER, although it started a project in 2019 to expand the hydraulic infrastructure of the Rincón de la Vieja ASADA and supply the settlement, has not pursued it diligently. It was determined that the water utility ICAA has no responsibility for the delay, as the necessary technical inputs were provided in 2019 and 2021, but INDER failed to submit updated plans. The Chamber ordered INDER to submit the updated plans within a non‑extendable six‑month period and to complete the project within two years from plan approval. One justice partially dissented, arguing that execution of the ruling should be handled by the contentious‑administrative court.La Sala Constitucional declaró parcialmente con lugar un recurso de amparo interpuesto por pobladores del Asentamiento La América en Dos Ríos de Upala, únicamente contra el Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (INDER). Los recurrentes alegaron que, desde que recibieron parcelas aproximadamente en 2015, carecen de servicio de agua potable, lo que afecta su salud y condiciones de higiene. La Sala constató que el INDER, aunque inició en 2019 un proyecto para ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja y abastecer al asentamiento, no ha gestionado el proyecto con celeridad. Se determinó que el ICAA no tiene responsabilidad por la demora, ya que los insumos técnicos necesarios fueron aportados en 2019 y 2021, pero el INDER no presentó los planos actualizados requeridos. La Sala ordenó al INDER presentar los planos actualizados en seis meses improrrogables y concluir el proyecto en dos años desde la aprobación de dichos planos. Una magistrada salvó el voto parcialmente, considerando que la fase de ejecución debe realizarse ante la jurisdicción contencioso-administrativa.
Key excerptExtracto clave
Under these circumstances, although the Chamber finds no omission on the part of ICAA, it does note that INDER has not diligently processed the project at issue, and therefore the appeal is granted against that institution. (…) Osvaldo Manuel Artavia Carballo, in his capacity as executive president of the said institute, or whomever holds that office, is ordered to issue the relevant instructions and take the necessary steps, within his sphere of competence, so that within the non‑extendable term of SIX MONTHS from notice of this resolution, the updated plans for the project to improve and expand the hydraulic infrastructure of the Rincón de la Vieja ASADA are submitted to the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers. He must also take the necessary measures to ensure that the project is completed within TWO YEARS from the approval of those plans.En semejantes condiciones, aunque la Sala no advierta ninguna conducta omisa del ICAA, si nota que el INDER no ha gestionado de forma célere el proyecto que interesa, así que procede a declarar con lugar el recurso en cuanto a dicha institución. (…) Se le ordena a Osvaldo Manuel Artavia Carballo, en su calidad de presidente ejecutivo del citado instituto, o a quien se desempeñe en el cargo, que gire las órdenes pertinentes y disponga lo necesario, dentro del ámbito de sus competencias, para que en el término improrrogable de SEIS MESES, contado a partir de la notificación de esta resolución, sean presentados ante el Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados los planos actualizados del proyecto para mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja. Asimismo, deberá tomar las medidas necesarias para que el proyecto en cuestión sea concluido en el plazo de DOS AÑOS contado a partir de la aprobación de dichos planos.
Pull quotesCitas destacadas
"el carácter de derecho fundamental al agua potable no implica un acceso irrestricto a dicho servicio público, por cuanto pueden presentarse imposibilidades técnicas o incumplimiento de requisitos infraconstitucionales -como en su caso-, con base en los cuales la Administración, válidamente, puede denegar el servicio."
"the character of the fundamental right to potable water does not imply unrestricted access to that public service, since technical impossibilities or failure to meet infra‑constitutional requirements may arise —as in his case— on the basis of which the Administration may validly deny the service."
Considerando V
"el carácter de derecho fundamental al agua potable no implica un acceso irrestricto a dicho servicio público, por cuanto pueden presentarse imposibilidades técnicas o incumplimiento de requisitos infraconstitucionales -como en su caso-, con base en los cuales la Administración, válidamente, puede denegar el servicio."
Considerando V
"la Sala no advierta ninguna conducta omisa del ICAA, si nota que el INDER no ha gestionado de forma célere el proyecto que interesa, así que procede a declarar con lugar el recurso en cuanto a dicha institución."
"the Chamber finds no omission on the part of ICAA, it does note that INDER has not diligently processed the project at issue, and therefore the appeal is granted against that institution."
Considerando V
"la Sala no advierta ninguna conducta omisa del ICAA, si nota que el INDER no ha gestionado de forma célere el proyecto que interesa, así que procede a declarar con lugar el recurso en cuanto a dicha institución."
Considerando V
"de conformidad con el artículo 56 de la Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, estimo que la fase de ejecución debe realizarse ante el Área de Ejecución del Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, bajo las reglas de ejecución de sentencia de dicho Código."
"pursuant to Article 56 of the Constitutional Jurisdiction Law, I believe the enforcement phase must take place before the Enforcement Division of the Contentious‑Administrative and Civil Treasury Court, under the enforcement rules of that Code."
Considerando VI — Voto Salvado
"de conformidad con el artículo 56 de la Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, estimo que la fase de ejecución debe realizarse ante el Área de Ejecución del Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, bajo las reglas de ejecución de sentencia de dicho Código."
Considerando VI — Voto Salvado
Full documentDocumento completo
Constitutional Chamber Date of Resolution: September 12, 2025 at 10:25 a.m.
Type of Matter: Amparo remedy Judgment with Dissenting Vote Relevance Indicators Relevant Judgment Judgment with protected data, in accordance with current regulations Content of Interest:
Strategic Themes: Economic, Social, Cultural, and Environmental Rights Type of Content: Majority vote Branch of Law: 4. GUARANTEE MATTERS Topic: PUBLIC SERVICES Subtopics:
DRINKING WATER.
029178-25. PUBLIC SERVICES. IT IS ALLEGED THAT INDER DELIVERS PARCELS TO BENEFICIARIES WITHOUT DRINKING WATER SERVICE. THE INSTITUTE OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT IS ORDERED TO, WITHIN THE NON-EXTENDABLE TERM OF SIX MONTHS, SUBMIT THE UPDATED PLANS FOR THE PROJECT TO IMPROVE AND EXPAND THE HYDRAULIC INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE ASADA OF RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA TO THE COSTA RICAN INSTITUTE OF AQUEDUCTS AND SEWERS. LIKEWISE, IT MUST TAKE THE NECESSARY MEASURES SO THAT THE PROJECT IN QUESTION IS COMPLETED WITHIN A PERIOD OF TWO YEARS FROM THE APPROVAL OF SAID PLANS. VCG09/2025 “(…) V.- ON THE MERITS. In the sub lite, according to the Respondent Authorities, there is a technical impossibility to provide the drinking water supply service for the La América Settlement, caused by a lack of hydraulic capacity, which is reflected in both the nonexistence and the incapacity of the hydraulic infrastructure of the aqueduct administered by the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja. In this regard, in an analogous case, the Chamber declared the following:
“After analyzing the evidentiary elements provided and the report rendered by the respondent authorities, with timely warning of the consequences provided for in Article 44 of the Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, the violation of the fundamental rights of the amparo petitioner is ruled out. In this regard, we have that the amparo petitioner is a resident of the community of Puerto Viejo in Limón and according to the record, on April 22, 2020, the petitioner submitted a request for Availability of Drinking Water and Sanitary Sewerage before the Huetar Atlántica Regional Directorate of the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers. Now, as indicated by the respondent, the Physical Development Unit of the ICAA, through a study prepared because the production capacity of the Sand Box water treatment plant was found to be totally committed with the current demand, therefore, it was recommended not to issue service availability until a project is executed that allows reducing the Non-Revenue Water indices or that increases production.
Due to the foregoing, the Huetar Atlántica Regional Directorate of the ICAA, by official letter No. SIGDD-2020-0026470-1-1-1, dated May 14, 2020, determined that the petitioner's property is outside the coverage area of the HC-A-01 Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo Integrated Aqueduct and the Limón Sur Project, for which there is no hydraulic capacity, and consequently, his request was denied. As determined, the construction of a new water treatment plant is due to the expansion of coverage to the southern sector, which does not include the communities of Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo. Once all services are incorporated into the Limón Sur aqueduct, a water balance will be carried out and the operating conditions will be known which, if positive, will reactivate the request; however, pipeline expansions for the communities of Hone Creek, Puerto Viejo, and Cahuita have not yet been carried out. Consequently, through memorandum No. GSP-RA-2020-01802 of July 31, 2020, the ICAA ratified that there is no main pipeline to connect the service in front of the amparo petitioner's property, as the nearest one is 160 meters away, so the denial of the non-availability given to the petitioner is due to technical aspects.
From this perspective, the remedy is declared without merit. In the first place, it is observed with total clarity that the petitioner's request was timely resolved negatively in the month of May 2020, as the petitioner himself indicates. On the other hand, it must be indicated to the petitioner that the nature of the fundamental right to drinking water does not imply unrestricted access to said public service, as technical impossibilities or non-compliance with infraconstitutional requirements may arise -as in his case-, based on which the Administration may validly deny the service. His disagreement with what was resolved in his case must be raised before the respondent authorities. In this case, we have a water availability request filed and resolved before the filing of this remedy; the disagreement with the denial in dispute is appropriate to be raised before the respondent instances, especially since it is based on technical criteria. Due to the foregoing, the remedy must be dismissed…” (Judgment No. 2020016106 of 09:20 a.m. on August 28, 2020).
In addition to this, it is not evident in the record that the petitioners have filed any request before the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja to request a special connection under the terms of Article 71 of the Reglamento de Prestación de Servicios of the ICAA. Consequently, it is necessary to declare this point without merit for similar reasons.
Now, it is evident in the record that INDER, after having an engagement with the Huetar Norte Regional Office of Communal Aqueducts (ORAC) of ICAA in 2019, generated an initiative to finance and build a project aimed at improving and expanding the hydraulic infrastructure of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja with the objective that the La América Settlement could be supplied through the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja. However, the aqueduct could not be built because the ASADA Rincón de La Vieja did not have a technical study determining the capacity to provide the water supply to the settlement, an indispensable requirement for INDER to carry out the designs, appraisals, and budgets that would subsequently serve in the project's bidding procedures. Subsequently, INDER informed the ORAC Huetar Norte of its interest in resuming the project and requested an updated endorsement for the plans.
However, at the time of rendering the reports, the ICAA had no pending matter in relation to the project to expand and improve the infrastructure of the aqueduct administered by the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja to supply the La América Settlement, given that in 2019 and 2021, the technical inputs and corresponding approvals for the project were generated as provided for in Article 45 of the Reglamento de ASADAS, with an endorsement from the ICAA being required prior to any improvement, expansion, or modernization of the aqueducts administered by the delegated operators. In this sense, the truth is that the updated plans had also not been submitted by INDER before the ORAC Huetar Norte for their corresponding review and eventual approval, under the terms of Article 45 of the Reglamento de ASADAS and Article 21 of the Ley Constitutiva del ICAA.
Under such conditions, although the Chamber does not perceive any omitted conduct by the ICAA, it does note that INDER has not managed the project of interest swiftly, thus it proceeds to declare the remedy with merit regarding said institution. (…)” ...
Related Judgments Content of Interest:
Type of Content: Dissenting vote Branch of Law: 6. LEY DE LA JURISDICCIÓN CONSTITUCIONAL ANNOTATED WITH JURISPRUDENCE Topic: 056- Execution of judgments Subtopics:
NOT APPLICABLE.
Although I agree with the majority of the Chamber that the remedy should be declared with merit, I differ on where to place the execution phase of the matter, due to the lack of adequate mechanisms foreseen by the regulations governing this constitutional jurisdiction to follow up on a judgment that involves highly complex technical aspects, such as the final approval and implementation of the project to improve and expand the hydraulic infrastructure of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja. In this sense, the provisions of the Código Procesal Contencioso-Administrativo regarding execution (Article 155 et seq.) have clear advantages, such as the possibility of requesting schedules, imposing fines, establishing responsibilities, supervising compliance stages, etc. Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of Article 56 of the Ley de Jurisdicción Constitucional, I believe that the execution phase must be carried out before the Execution Area of the Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, under the judgment execution rules of said Code.
VCG09/2025 ...
CONSTITUTIONAL CHAMBER OF THE SUPREME COURT OF JUSTICE. San José, at ten twenty-five hours on September twelve, two thousand twenty-five.
Amparo remedy processed in expediente number 24-027347-0007-CO, filed by [Name 001], identity card [Value 001], [Name 002], residence card [Value 002], and [Name 003], identity card [Value 003], against the ASOCIACIÓN ADMINISTRADORA DEL ACUEDUCTO Y ALCANTARILLADO SANITARIO INTEGRADO DEL RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA, the INSTITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ACUEDUCTOS Y ALCANTARILLADOS (ICAA), and the INSTITUTO DE DESARROLLO RURAL (INDER).-
Resultando:
Since these are part of the productive process of the parcels and it is not a budgetary problem, but rather one of availability or capacity of the aqueduct to carry out the technical studies. At the Upala Territorial Development Office, we did not stop there. We carried out multiple efforts with the ORAC of the AyA of San Carlos, we built the design and the preparation of the plans for the settlement's aqueduct, and with the collaboration of the ORAC, we finally achieved their approval in December 2019. For the year 2020, we were starting the work and coordination with the Asada Rincón de La Vieja to develop the project, but the COVID-19 pandemic interrupted us. On March 24, 2020, Dr. Luis Enrique Mayorga of the Upala Ministry of Health notified us of a complaint from the inhabitants of the La América Settlement, who explained the situation that they do not have an aqueduct on their parcels and that they must travel to the communal facilities to obtain drinking water from a public source.
The farthest distance is around 1500 meters. In fact, in the complaint filed, the petitioners state that the Asada, Inder, and the parcel holders are jointly seeking an alternative to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, because they were participants in the project that we presented to the General Management of Inder in 2020, managing the Authorization to carry out an emergency project that would allow us to provide provisional drinking water to each of the settlement's parcels, directly to their homes, where Inder would purchase all the piping and accessories, the parcel holders collaborated with the trenches in front of their properties, and the Asada carried out the pipe installation and connection processes; there was also a donation to the Asada of a tank to store water made by the UNDP for that project. See the project visible on folios 75 to 90 of the attached file. Even though the investment was minimal, around seven million three hundred thousand colones, it was not approved because the budgetary authority did not allow it.
From this moment on, another problem arose, which was that Hurricane Otto at the end of 2016 had affected the aqueduct of the Asada Rincón de la Vieja, and a large investment was required to improve the systems. This undoubtedly affected the project to expand the network to the La América settlement, and as a result of this, the aqueduct entered into a project with the National Emergency Commission for the total rehabilitation of the aqueduct of the Asada Rincón de la Vieja. In that process, the Inder Upala Territorial Development Office has collaborated with the ASADA, providing access to water collection sources on Inder lands and others to support the construction of the new Aqueduct project. Furthermore, at Inder we continue with the efforts to obtain the aqueduct for the settlement, and in January 2021, the AyA, through the UEN, Rural Aqueduct Management, ratified and approved the plans again, granting us the technical endorsement of the proposal so that the project may be executed exactly as detailed in Inder's construction plans.
See folios 91 to 98. Within the document management process, we coordinated the corresponding permits with the Municipality of Upala for the road breaking, which was granted to us as seen in the official communication visible on consecutive folios 99 to 101. However, we could not advance until the new aqueduct arrived in the community of La América. Now, the Rincón de la Vieja aqueduct did arrive in the community of La América just a few months ago. For this reason, since mid-year, the Upala Territorial Development Office assigned Eng. Oldemar Chavarria Gallo, in charge of infrastructure projects at the Office, to carry out the coordination and preparation of the project file, jointly with the Asada Rincón de la Vieja and with all the corresponding bodies, including the ORAC of the AyA San Carlos, the Municipality of Upala, and the Asociación de Productores del Asentamiento La América. The project must include all the corresponding requirements that must be added to be sent to Mideplan.
In fact, Licda. Shirley Rojas Ramírez, Development Coordinator of the Huetar Norte Region of Inder, has it included in the list of projects for Mideplan for the POI-2025. See the supporting folios that are visible on consecutive folios 102 to 108, which correspond to part of the efforts that Eng. Oldemar Chavarria is carrying out in coordination with the AyA, the Municipality of Upala, which recently provided us with the permit for road breaking. In addition to this, Eng. Guillermo Cordoba of the Inder Infrastructure Department is working on updating the project budgets. The foregoing demonstrates our commitment to the project, the inter-institutional coordination we are carrying out to comply with the standards established by the current Government that all infrastructure projects must enter the Mideplan Project Bank for its endorsement and execution authorization. In that sense, we are working, and thus the project for the expansion of the Rincón de la Vieja aqueduct network to provide drinking water to all the parcels of the La América Settlement of Dos Ríos de Upala advances.
Finally, we wish to mention that the efforts we are undertaking are duly reported to the Asociación de Productores del Asentamiento La América in meetings with the Board of Directors and on several occasions convening all the parcel holders of the settlement, as occurred last October 10, 2024, where the issue was addressed and the parcel holders commented that recently officials from the Municipality of Upala had visited the settlement to inspect the roads, which again facilitated the permit for the road breaking on the access roads and within the settlement that will allow the expansion of the aqueduct to all the parcels of the La América Settlement. See consecutive folios 110 to 111. They allege that for approximately 8 years they have been requesting water service from the ASADA Rincón de La Vieja; however, on some occasions, they have been told that this matter is for INDER to resolve, for having given them those parcels without water; on other occasions, they are told no for budgetary reasons, and on other occasions, they are simply told no without further explanation.
This is not true. It is not a matter that falls to Inder; it must be addressed by the Asada Rincón de la Vieja. They maintain that the lack of access to water has generated collective environmental and health problems, such as an excess of flies due to the accumulated filth, skin diseases, diarrhea, and other ailments related to the lack of water. Likewise, basic hygiene conditions are difficult for them, which causes school-age minors to arrive at the educational center without bathing or brushing their teeth, exposing them to continuous reproach, stigmatization, discrimination, and harassment from schoolmates. This is not true. We are aware of the need to have water directly on each of their parcels; however, we must keep in mind that the 22 families are not suffering this situation, because as mentioned earlier, of the 20 occupied parcels, 4 parcels are connected to the aqueduct through a paid-for connection.
Of the remaining 16 families, 9 work the parcel but do not live in the settlement, so only 7 families draw water from the public source at the settlement's communal facilities. That is, there they wash clothes and can shower and collect water and transport it to their homes in the same settlement, or from there travel to the educational center which is en route. It is an inconvenience, yes, but they have access to drinking water while we manage to develop the project and bring water connections to each of the parcels that still do not have them. They state that the lack of access to water creates the need to carry it from long distances, a task that falls on the women of that community, because due to the presence of dangerous animals, it must be done during daylight hours, a time when most of the men work outside their homes. They comment that the communities surrounding the settlement do have drinking water supplied by said Asada.
I clarify that the internal roads of the settlement with all their branches total around 3 kilometers. According to the inquiry made to Mr. Marcial Taleno Taleno, President of the Administrative Association of the La América Settlement, of the 7 parcels that must carry drinking water from the source to their homes, they do so with the closest being 600 meters away and the farthest 1500 meters away; the other 5 parcels are about 800 meters from the water source. II.- IN CONCLUSION: Viewing the response provided by the Upala regional office, it is concluded that, between 2016 and 2019, the aqueduct project began to be managed; however, the ASADA did not have the technical study that determines the capacity to provide the drinking water supply to the settlement. Likewise, INDER did not have authorization to carry out the technical studies, it being the responsibility of the Asada to provide them.
As was clearly stated, these technical studies are indispensable for INDER to carry out the designs, appraisals, and budgets that will later serve in the project bidding procedures. The head of the Upala regional office states that it was informed, and thus recorded in the official response to the Ministry of Health, which is visible on consecutive folios 70 to 74 of the attached administrative file, that when the studies were completed for the settlement leaseholders and the parcels were handed over to them in 2016, they were warned that they could not take possession of the parcels until they had the public services installed and functioning. As there was a danger of invasion of the purchased farm, INDER authorized the leaseholders to work the parcels, but not to live on them. It seems that many of them moved and built their homes on the parcels of the settlement over time. In the same vein, it is said that, because there was no aqueduct in the settlement, the properties called family farms in the settlement were not handed over and remain vacant to date.
The aforementioned head also states that today, only 7 families are without access to drinking water, so it is not true that the 22 parcel holders suffer the situation. From the report rendered, which can be verified in the attached file, multiple efforts have been made to provide an aqueduct to the population in question; however, situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic and Hurricane Otto have also delayed the process. In this vein, it is stated that the Rincón de la Vieja aqueduct arrived in the community of La América a few months ago and that, since mid-year, Eng. Oldemar Chavarría Gallo (in charge of infrastructure projects at the Office) has already been designated to coordinate and prepare the project file, jointly with the Asada Rincón de la Vieja and with all the corresponding bodies, including the ORAC of the AyA San Carlos, the Municipality of Upala, and the Asociación de Productores del Asentamiento La América.
Likewise, Licda. Shirley Rojas Ramírez, Development Coordinator of the Huetar Norte Region of Inder, has it included in the list of projects for Mideplan for the POI-2025. (See the supporting folios visible on consecutive folios 102 to 108, which correspond to part of the efforts that Eng. Oldemar Chavarría is carrying out in coordination with the AyA, the Municipality of Upala, which recently provided us with the permit for road breaking). In addition to this, Eng. Guillermo Córdoba of the INDER Infrastructure Department is working on updating the project budgets. The foregoing demonstrates the commitment of the Institute of Rural Development to the project, the inter-institutional coordination that is being carried out to comply with the standards established by the current Government that all infrastructure projects must enter the MIDEPLAN Project Bank for endorsement and execution authorization.
In that sense, work is underway, and thus the project for the expansion of the Rincón de la Vieja aqueduct network to provide drinking water to all the parcels of the La América Settlement of Dos Ríos de Upala advances. It should be noted that the efforts being executed are duly reported to the Asociación de Productores del Asentamiento La América in meetings with the Board of Directors and on several occasions convening all the parcel holders of the settlement, as occurred last October 10, 2024, according to the regional office's report, where the issue was addressed, and the parcel holders commented that recently officials from the Municipality of Upala had visited the settlement to inspect the roads, which again facilitated the permit for the road breaking on the access roads and within the settlement that will allow the expansion of the aqueduct to all the parcels of the La América Settlement (see consecutive folios 110 to 111).
The regional office states that, regarding the issue that the petitioners have been told that INDER is responsible for providing drinking water to the community in question, that is not correct. The truth is that this is the responsibility of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja, which is confirmed, since INDER does not have within its powers the provision of drinking water to communities. It is true that it can collaborate and assist in this regard, but it is not an obligation per se of INDER. Meanwhile, regarding the distance that must be traveled to collect drinking water, and according to the inquiry made to Mr. Marcial Taleno Taleno, President of the Administrative Association of the La América Settlement, of the 7 parcels that must carry drinking water from the source to their homes, they do so with the closest being 600 meters away and the farthest 1500 meters away; the other 5 parcels are about 800 meters from the water source.
Thus, INDER's effort to address this situation is evident; both economic and human resources have been allocated to solve the lack of drinking water in the La América settlement, with strong actions, and we will continue on this path, as is clearly established both in the report generated by the Upala regional office and in the attached evidence…". It requests that the appeal filed be dismissed.
"Incorrect Address Other In Brasilia, there is no community hall, it is demolished. Neighbors of the place, including Mr. Noé López López, are consulted, and they inform that the notifyee does not live at the location." (The underlined highlighting is not from the original).
"AMERICA UPALA ALAJUELA - PARAISO, 200 METERS WEST OF THE BUS STOP, UNPAINTED HOUSE".
"Incorrect address, one arrives at The Church Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses, he does not reside at the provided address."
Drafted by Judge Castillo Víquez; and,
Considering:
The petitioners allege that around the year 2015, INDER granted at least 22 parcels to the members of the Asociación de Pequeños Agricultores del Asentamiento La Ceiba de Dos Ríos, Upala. The land granted, explain the petitioners, is composed of approximately 22 parcels on which an equal number of families live, including individuals in a condition of vulnerability due to disability, elderly persons, and minors. However, despite INDER granting these parcels for agricultural use and housing, it delivered the lands without them having drinking water service, limiting itself to indicating to the regional officials that, shortly, they would be provided with water service. They allege that, consequently, for approximately 8 years, they have been requesting water service from the ASADA Rincón de la Vieja. However, on some occasions, the latter has responded that this matter is for INDER to resolve, for having given them those parcels without water, while on other occasions, they have been told no for budgetary reasons, and on still other occasions, they have only been told no without further explanation.
They argue that the lack of water has generated collective environmental and health problems, such as an excess of flies due to the accumulated filth, skin diseases, diarrhea, and other ailments related to the lack of water. Likewise, they claim that it is difficult for the residents to meet basic hygiene conditions. They state that the lack of access to water forces them to carry it from long distances, a task that falls on the women of that community which, due to the presence of dangerous animals, must be done during daylight hours, a time when most of the men work outside their homes. The resulting situation causes school-age minors to arrive at their educational center without bathing or brushing their teeth, leaving them exposed to continuous reproach, stigmatization, discrimination, and harassment from their schoolmates. However, the communities surrounding the settlement do have drinking water supplied by said ASADA. For the foregoing reasons, they come to the Chamber in protection of their fundamental rights.
Deemed important for the decision of this matter, the following facts are considered duly proven, either because they have been so accredited or because the respondent failed to refer to them according to the provisions of the initial order:
"12. Technical feasibility analysis for the granting of services: Process to verify the real and current existence of sufficient water, hydraulic, material, technical, legal, and environmental resources to grant the availability and eventual connection of the service. For such purposes, the following conditions must be observed:
a. That the distribution and collection networks pass in front of the property's boundaries or have direct access via a public road or right-of-way easement (servidumbre de paso) of the property for which a service is requested.
b. That the systems have sufficient water, hydraulic, potabilization, and treatment capacity to grant new services.
c. That the system complies with the established quality attributes.
d. That it complies with the corresponding environmental regulations." Consequently, INDER, after having an approach with the Regional Office of Community Aqueducts (ORAC) Huetar Norte of ICAA in 2019, generated an initiative to finance and build a project aimed at improving and expanding the hydraulic infrastructure of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja with the objective that the La América Settlement, also known as Asentamiento La Ceiba, could be supplied through the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja. Through official communication GSD-UEN-GAR-2019-05174 dated December 11, 2019, the ORAC Huetar Norte of ICAA informed INDER that there is sufficient water capacity for the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja to increase and extend the aqueduct infrastructure to the La América Settlement. Likewise, the ORAC Huetar Norte carried out a preliminary survey, and a list of the materials required to execute said project was estimated to be the responsibility of INDER, intended to supply approximately 41 dwellings (reports).
Additionally, at that time, INDER also lacked authorization to carry out the technical studies on its own, and it fell to the ASADA to provide them (reports).
The following fact of relevance to this resolution is not considered proven: sole) That the appellants have raised any request before the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja to request a special connection under the terms of the provisions of article 71 of the ICAA Service Provision Regulation (see reports).
In the sub lite matter, according to the Respondent Authorities, there is a technical impossibility to provide the potable water supply service for the La América Settlement, caused by a lack of hydraulic capacity, which is reflected both in the non-existence and in the incapacity of the hydraulic infrastructure of the aqueduct managed by the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja. In this regard, in an analogous case, the Chamber stated the following:
“After analyzing the evidentiary elements provided and the report rendered by the respondent authorities, with timely warning of the consequences provided in article 44 of the Constitutional Jurisdiction Law (Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional), the violation of the fundamental rights of the amparado is ruled out. In this regard, we have that the amparado is a resident of the community of Puerto Viejo in Limón and, according to the record, on April 22, 2020, the appellant submitted a request for Potable Water and Sanitary Sewer Availability before the Huetar Atlántica Regional Directorate of the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers. That said, as indicated by the defendant, the Physical Development Unit of ICAA, through a study prepared that the production capacity of the Sand Box water treatment plant, established that it is totally committed to current demand; therefore, it recommended not to issue service availability until a project is executed that allows for reducing the Non-Revenue Water indices or that increases production.
Due to the foregoing, the Huetar Atlántica Regional Directorate of ICAA, by official communication N° SIGDD-2020-0026470-1-1-1, dated May 14, 2020, determined that the appellant’s property is located outside the coverage area of the HC-A-01 Integrated Aqueduct Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo and of the Limón Sur Project, as there is no hydraulic capacity, and consequently, their request was denied. As determined, the construction of a new water treatment plant responds to the expansion of coverage to the southern sector, which does not include the communities of Hone Creek and Puerto Viejo. Once all services are incorporated into the Limón Sur aqueduct, a water balance will be carried out and the operating conditions will be known which, if positive, will reactivate the request; however, pipeline expansions for the communities of Hone Creek, Puerto Viejo, and Cahuita have not yet been carried out.
As a consequence, by memorandum No. GSP-RA-2020-01802 of July 31, 2020, ICAA ratified that there is no main pipeline to connect the service in front of the amparado’s property, the closest one being 160 meters away, so the refusal of the non-availability given to the appellant is due to technical aspects.
From this panorama, we proceed to declare the appeal without merit. In the first place, it is observed with total clarity that the appellant’s request was resolved in a timely manner, negatively, in the month of May 2020, as the claimant correctly indicates. On the other hand, the appellant must be told that the character of the fundamental right to potable water does not imply unrestricted access to said public service, since technical impossibilities or non-compliance with infra-constitutional requirements can arise—as in their case—on the basis of which the Administration, validly, can deny the service. Their disagreement with what was resolved in their case must be raised before the defendant authorities. In this case, we have a water availability request filed and resolved before this appeal was filed; the disagreement with the disputed denial is proper to be raised before the defendant instances, especially since it is based on technical criteria. Due to the foregoing, the appeal must be dismissed…” (Judgment N° 2020016106 of 09:20 hours on August 28, 2020).
In addition to this, the record does not show that the appellants have raised any request before the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja to request a special connection under the terms of the provisions of article 71 of the ICAA Service Provision Regulation. Consequently, it is necessary to declare this point without merit for similar reasons.
That said, the record shows that INDER, after having an approach with the Regional Office of Community Aqueducts (ORAC) Huetar Norte of ICAA in 2019, generated an initiative to finance and build a project aimed at improving and expanding the hydraulic infrastructure of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja, with the objective that the La América Settlement could be supplied through the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja. However, the aqueduct could not be built because the ASADA Rincón de La Vieja did not have a technical study to determine the capacity to provide water supply to the settlement, an indispensable requirement for INDER to be able to carry out the designs, appraisals, and budgets that would later serve in the project’s bidding procedures. Subsequently, INDER informed the ORAC Huetar Norte of its interest in resuming the project and requested an updated endorsement for the plans.
However, at the time the reports were rendered, ICAA had no pending matter in relation to the project to expand and improve the aqueduct infrastructure managed by the ASADA of Rincón de La Vieja to supply the La América Settlement, given that in 2019 and 2021 the technical inputs and the corresponding approvals for the project were generated as established by article 45 of the ASADAS Regulation, an endorsement from ICAA being required prior to any improvement, expansion, or modernization of the aqueducts managed by delegated operators. In this sense, the truth is that the updated plans had also not been submitted by INDER to the ORAC Huetar Norte for their corresponding review and eventual approval, under the terms of the provisions of article 45 of the ASADAS Regulation and article 21 of the ICAA Constitutive Law.
Under such conditions, although the Chamber does not note any omission on the part of ICAA, it does note that INDER has not expeditiously managed the project of interest, so it hereby proceeds to declare the appeal with merit in relation to said institution.
Although I concur with the majority of the Chamber that the appeal must be declared with merit, I disagree regarding where to situate the execution phase of the matter, due to the non-existence of adequate mechanisms provided by the regulations governing this constitutional jurisdiction to follow up on a judgment that involves highly complex technical aspects, such as the definitive approval and implementation of the project to improve and expand the hydraulic infrastructure of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja. In this sense, the provisions of the Contentious-Administrative Procedure Code (Código Procesal Contencioso-Administrativo) regarding execution (article 155 and following) have evident advantages, such as the possibility to request schedules, impose fines, establish responsibilities, oversee compliance stages, etc. Therefore, in accordance with the provisions of article 56 of the Constitutional Jurisdiction Law, I consider that the execution phase must be carried out before the Execution Area of the Contentious-Administrative and Civil Treasury Court, under the judgment execution rules of said Code.
The parties are warned that if they have provided any paper document, as well as objects or evidence contained in any additional electronic, computer, magnetic, optical, telematic, or new-technology-produced device, these must be removed from the office within a maximum period of 30 business days counted from the notification of this judgment. Otherwise, all material that is not removed within this period will be destroyed, according to the provisions of the "Regulation on Electronic Case Files before the Judiciary" (Reglamento sobre Expediente Electrónico ante el Poder Judicial), approved by the Full Court in session N° 27-11 of August 22, 2011, article XXVI and published in Judicial Bulletin number 19 of January 26, 2012, as well as in the agreement approved by the Superior Council of the Judiciary, in session N° 43-12 held on May 3, 2012, article LXXXI.
Therefore:
The appeal is partially declared WITH MERIT, against the Institute of Rural Development only. Osvaldo Manuel Artavia Carballo, in his capacity as executive president of said institute, or whoever acts in that capacity, is ordered to issue the pertinent orders and provide what is necessary, within the scope of their powers, so that within the non-extendable term of SIX MONTHS, counted from the notification of this resolution, the updated plans for the project to improve and expand the hydraulic infrastructure of the ASADA of Rincón de la Vieja are submitted to the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers. Likewise, they must take the necessary measures so that the project in question is concluded within the period of TWO YEARS counted from the approval of said plans. The respondent authority is warned that, in accordance with article 71 of the Constitutional Jurisdiction Law, imprisonment of three months to two years or a fine of twenty to sixty days will be imposed on anyone who receives an order that must be complied with or enforced, issued within an amparo appeal, and does not comply with it or does not enforce it, provided that the crime is not more severely punished.
The Institute of Rural Development is ordered to pay the costs, damages, and losses caused by the facts serving as the basis for this declaration, which will be liquidated in the execution of the sentence of the contentious-administrative jurisdiction. Magistrate Garro Vargas dissents regarding the execution of this judgment and, in accordance with article 56 of the Constitutional Jurisdiction Law, orders that it must be carried out before the Execution Area of the Contentious-Administrative and Civil Treasury Court, under the execution rules established in article 155 and following of the Contentious-Administrative Procedure Code. She also orders that a copy of the judgment be sent to initiate the execution procedures of this ruling. Notify.
Fernando Castillo V.
Paul Rueda L.
Luis Fdo. Salazar A.
Jorge Araya G.
Anamari Garro V.
Ingrid Hess H.
Alexandra Alvarado P.
Clasificación elaborada por SALA CONSTITUCIONALdel Poder Judicial. Prohibida su reproducción y/o distribución en forma onerosa.
Sentencia con Voto Salvado Indicadores de Relevancia Sentencia relevante Sentencia con datos protegidos, de conformidad con la normativa vigente Contenido de Interés:
Temas Estrategicos: Der Económicos sociales culturales y ambientales Tipo de contenido: Voto de mayoría Rama del Derecho: 4. ASUNTOS DE GARANTÍA Tema: SERVICIOS PÚBLICOS Subtemas:
AGUA POTABLE.
029178-25. SERVICIOS PÚBLICOS. SE ACUSA QUE EL INDER, ENTREGA PARCELAS A LOS BENEFICIARIOS, SIN SERVICIO DE AGUA POTABLE. SE LE ORDENA AL INSTITUTO DE DESARROLLO RURAL, QUE, EN EL TÉRMINO IMPRORROGABLE DE SEIS MESES, SEAN PRESENTADOS ANTE EL INSTITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ACUEDUCTOS Y ALCANTARILLADOS LOS PLANOS ACTUALIZADOS DEL PROYECTO PARA MEJORAR Y AMPLIAR LA INFRAESTRUCTURA HIDRÁULICA DE LA ASADA DE RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA. ASIMISMO, DEBERÁ TOMAR LAS MEDIDAS NECESARIAS PARA QUE EL PROYECTO EN CUESTIÓN SEA CONCLUIDO EN EL PLAZO DE DOS AÑOS CONTADO A PARTIR DE LA APROBACIÓN DE DICHOS PLANOS. VCG09/2025 “(…) V.- SOBRE EL FONDO. En el sub lite, según indican las Autoridades recurridas, existe una imposibilidad técnica para brindar el servicio de abastecimiento de agua potable para el Asentamiento La América, generada por una falta de capacidad hidráulica, que se refleja tanto en la inexistencia como en la incapacidad de la infraestructura hidráulica del acueducto administrado por la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja. En este sentido, en un caso análogo, la Sala declaró lo siguiente:
“Después de analizar los elementos probatorios aportados y el informe rendido por las autoridades recurridas, con oportuno apercibimiento de las consecuencias previstas en el artículo 44 de la Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, se descarta la vulneración de los derechos fundamentales del amparado. Al respecto tenemos que, el amparado es vecino de la comunidad de Puerto Viejo en Limón y según consta el 22 de abril de 2020, el recurrente presentó una solicitud de Disponibilidad de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado Sanitario ante la Dirección Regional Huetar Atlántica del Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados. Ahora bien, según indicó el accionado, la Unidad de Desarrollo Físico del ICAA, mediante estudio elaborado por que la capacidad de producción de la planta potabilizadora de Sand Box, estableció que está totalmente comprometida con la demanda actual, por tanto, se recomendó no emitir disponibilidad de servicios hasta que no se ejecute un proyecto que permita disminuir los índices de Agua No Contabilizada o que aumente la producción.
Debido a lo expuesto, la Dirección Regional Huetar Atlántica del ICAA, por oficio N° SIGDD-2020-0026470-1-1-1, del día 14 de mayo del 2020, determinó que la propiedad del recurrente se encuentra fuera del área de cobertura del HC-A-01 Acueducto Integrado Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo y del Proyecto Limón Sur, por lo que no existe capacidad hidráulica, y en consecuencia, se denegó su gestión. Según se determinó, la construcción de una nueva planta potabilizadora obedece a la ampliación de cobertura al sector sur, que no incluye a las comunidades de Hone Creek y Puerto Viejo. Una vez incorporados todos los servicios en el acueducto de Limón Sur, se procederá a realizar el balance hídrico y se conocerán las condiciones de operación que, de resultar positivas, reactivarán la solicitud; sin embargo, aún no se han realizado ampliaciones de tubería para las comunidades de Hone Creek, Puerto Viejo y Cahuita.
Como consecuencia, mediante menorando No. GSP-RA-2020-01802 del 31 de julio de 2020, el ICAA ratificó que no existe una tubería principal para conectar el servicio frente a la propiedad del amparado, siendo que la más cercana se encuentra a 160 metros, por lo que la negativa a la no disponibilidad dada al recurrente, obedece a aspectos técnicos.
Desde este panorama, se procede a declarar sin lugar el recurso. En primer lugar, se observa con total claridad que la gestión del recurrente fue oportunamente resuelta de forma negativa en el mes de mayo de 2020, como bien lo indica el accionante. Por otra parte, se le debe indicar al recurrente que el carácter de derecho fundamental al agua potable no implica un acceso irrestricto a dicho servicio público, por cuanto pueden presentarse imposibilidades técnicas o incumplimiento de requisitos infraconstitucionales -como en su caso-, con base en los cuales la Administración, válidamente, puede denegar el servicio. Su inconformidad con lo resuelto en su caso, debe plantearla ante las autoridades accionadas. En este caso, tenemos una gestión de disponibilidad de agua presentada y resuelta antes de la interposición de este recurso, la inconformidad con la negativa en disputa, es propia de plantearse ante las instancias accionadas, máxime que se fundamenta en criterios técnicos. Debido a lo expuesto, el recurso debe ser desestimados...” (Sentencia N° 2020016106 de las 09:20 horas del 28 de agosto de 2020).
Aunado a ello, no consta en autos que los recurrentes hayan planteado alguna gestión ante la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja para solicitar una conexión especial en los términos de lo dispuesto en el artículo 71 del Reglamento de Prestación de Servicios del ICAA. Por consiguiente, se impone declarar sin lugar el extremo por razones similares.
Ahora bien, consta en autos que el INDER, luego de tener un acercamiento con la Oficina Regional de Acueductos Comunales (ORAC) Huetar Norte de ICAA en 2019, generó una iniciativa para financiar y construir un proyecto destinado a mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja con el objetivo de que el Asentamiento La América pudiera ser abastecido a través de la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja. Sin embargo, el acueducto no pudo ser construido porque la ASADA Rincón de La Vieja no contaba con un estudio técnico que determinara la capacidad para brindar el suministro de agua al asentamiento, requisito indispensable para que el INDER pudiera efectuar los diseños, avalúos y presupuestos que servirían posteriormente en los tramites de licitación del proyecto. Posteriormente, el INDER informó a la ORAC Huetar Norte su interés de retomar el proyecto y solicitó un aval actualizado a los planos.
Sin embargo, al momento de rendirse los informes, el ICAA no tenía pendiente alguno en relación con el proyecto para ampliar y mejorar la infraestructura del acueducto administrado por parte de la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja para abastecer al Asentamiento La América, toda vez que en el año 2019 y 2021 se generaron los insumos técnicos y las aprobaciones correspondientes al proyecto conforme dispone el artículo 45 del Reglamento de ASADAS, siendo requerido un aval del ICAA de previo a cualquier mejora, ampliación o modernización de los acueductos administrados por los operadores delegados. En este sentido, lo cierto es que los planos actualizados tampoco habían sido presentados por parte del INDER ante la ORAC Huetar Norte para su correspondiente revisión y eventual aprobación, en los términos de lo dispuesto en el artículo 45 del Reglamento de ASADAS y el artículo 21 de la Ley Constitutiva del ICAA.
En semejantes condiciones, aunque la Sala no advierta ninguna conducta omisa del ICAA, si nota que el INDER no ha gestionado de forma célere el proyecto que interesa, así que procede a declarar con lugar el recurso en cuanto a dicha institución. (…)” ... Ver más Sentencias Relacionadas Contenido de Interés:
Tipo de contenido: Voto salvado Rama del Derecho: 6. LEY DE LA JURISDICCIÓN CONSTITUCIONAL ANOTADA CON JURISPRUDENCIA Tema: 056- Ejecución de sentencias Subtemas:
NO APLICA.
Si bien coincido con la mayoría de la Sala en que el recurso se debe declarar con lugar, difiero sobre dónde residenciar la fase de ejecución del asunto, debido a la inexistencia de mecanismos adecuados previstos por la normativa que rige esta jurisdicción constitucional para dar seguimiento a una sentencia que reviste aspectos técnicos de gran complejidad, como lo es la aprobación definitiva e implantación del proyecto para mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja. En este sentido, lo dispuesto por el Código Procesal Contencioso-Administrativo en materia de ejecución (artículo 155 y siguientes) tiene evidentes ventajas, como la posibilidad de pedir cronogramas, imponer multas, sentar responsabilidades, fiscalizar etapas de cumplimiento, etc. Por ello, de conformidad con lo dispuesto por el artículo 56 de la Ley de Jurisdicción Constitucional, estimo que la fase de ejecución debe realizarse ante el Área de Ejecución del Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, bajo las reglas de ejecución de sentencia de dicho Código.
VCG09/2025 ... Ver más SALA CONSTITUCIONAL DE LA CORTE SUPREMA DE JUSTICIA. San José, a las diez horas veinticinco minutos del doce de setiembre de dos mil veinticinco .
Recurso de amparo que se tramita en expediente número 24-027347-0007-CO, interpuesto por [Nombre 001], cédula de identidad [Valor 001], [Nombre 002], cédula de residencia [Valor 002], y [Nombre 003], cédula de identidad [Valor 003], contra la ASOCIACIÓN ADMINISTRADORA DEL ACUEDUCTO Y ALCANTARILLADO SANITARIO INTEGRADO DEL RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA, el INSTITUTO COSTARRICENSE DE ACUEDUCTOS Y ALCANTARILLADOS (ICAA) y el INSTITUTO DE DESARROLLO RURAL (INDER).-
Resultando:
“Dirección equivocada Otros En Brasilia, no existe salón comunal, ésta demolido. Se consulta con vecinos del lugar entre ellos don Noé López López, e informan que el notificado no vive en el lugar”. (El resaltado con subrayado no es del original).
“AMERICA UPALA ALAJUELA - PARAISO, DE LA PARADA DE BUSES 200 OESTE CASA SIN PINTAR”.
“Direccion incorrecta, se llega a La Iglesia Salon del Reino de los Testigos de Jehova, no reside en la direccion aportada”.
Redacta el Magistrado Castillo Víquez; y,
Considerando:
Visto que: 1) en el sub lite ha sido imposible notificar a Juan Andrés Alcocer Alcocer, presidente con representación judicial y extrajudicial y facultades de apoderado generalísimo sin límite de suma de la ASADA Rincón de La Vieja, debido a que todas las direcciones suministradas en ese sentido han resultado imprecisas; 2) que la parte recurrente no aportó una dirección en la que dicha persona pudiera ser habida para efectos de notificación, pese a que ello le fue prevenido en dos ocasiones; y 3) que, a juicio de este Tribunal, ya existen en el expediente suficientes elementos para resolver este amparo, se prescinde del citado informe y se entra a resolver este amparo.
Los recurrentes alegan que aproximadamente en el año 2015, el INDER otorgó al menos 22 parcelas a los miembros de la Asociación de Pequeños Agricultores del Asentamiento La Ceiba de Dos Ríos, Upala. La tierra otorgada, explican los accionantes, está compuesta por aproximadamente 22 parcelas en las que habitan igual número de familias, entre las que se encuentran personas en condición de vulnerabilidad por motivos de discapacidad, adultas mayores y menores de edad. No obstante, a pesar de que el INDER otorgó esas parcelas con fines de aprovechamiento agrícola y de vivienda, entregó los terrenos sin que contaran con el servicio de agua potable, limitándose a indicarle a los encargados regionales que, a corto plazo, se les iba a dotar del servicio de agua. Alegan que, en consecuencia, desde hace aproximadamente 8 años, están solicitando el servicio de agua a la ASADA Rincón de la Vieja. Sin embargo, en algunas ocasiones ésta les ha contestado que ese asunto lo debe resolver el INDER, por haberles dado esas parcelas sin agua, mientras que en otras ocasiones les ha dicho que no, por asuntos presupuestarios, y en otras ocasiones más, únicamente les ha dicho que no, sin darles mayor explicación.
Aducen que la falta de agua ha generado problemas colectivos ambientales y de salud, como un exceso de moscas por la suciedad que se acumula, enfermedades en la piel, diarreas y otros padecimientos relacionados con la falta de agua. Asimismo, acusan que a los pobladores se les hace difícil cumplir las condiciones de higiene básica. Refieren que la falta de acceso al agua les obliga a acarrearla desde largas distancias, tarea que recae en las mujeres de esa comunidad que, debido a la presencia de animales peligrosos, debe hacerse en horas del día, horario en el que la mayoría de los hombres trabajan afuera de sus hogares. La situación generada causa que los menores en edad escolar lleguen a su centro educativo sin bañarse o lavarse los dientes, quedando expuestos a reproches continuos, estigmatización, discriminación y acoso por parte de sus compañeros de escuela. Sin embargo, las comunidades aledañas al asentamiento sí cuentan con agua potable suministrada por dicha ASADA. Por lo expuesto, acuden a la Sala en protección de sus derechos fundamentales.
De importancia para la decisión de este asunto, se estiman como debidamente demostrados los siguientes hechos, sea porque así han sido acreditados o bien porque el recurrido haya omitido referirse a ellos según lo prevenido en el auto inicial:
“12. Análisis de factibilidad técnica para el otorgamiento de los servicios: Proceso de verificación de la existencia real y actual de los recursos hídricos, hidráulicos, materiales, técnicos, legales y ambientales suficientes para otorgar la disponibilidad y eventual conexión del servicio. Para tales efectos se deberán de observar las siguientes condiciones:
a. Que las redes de distribución y de recolección pasan frente a linderos del inmueble o tenga acceso directo por vía pública o servidumbre de paso del inmueble para el cual se solicita un servicio.
b. Que los sistemas cuenten con capacidad hídrica, hidráulica, de potabilización y de tratamiento, suficientes para otorgar nuevos servicios.
c. Que el sistema cumple con los atributos de calidad establecidos.
d. Que cumple con la normativa ambiental correspondiente”.
Consecuentemente, el INDER, luego de tener un acercamiento con la Oficina Regional de Acueductos Comunales (ORAC) Huetar Norte de ICAA en 2019, generó una iniciativa para financiar y construir un proyecto destinado a mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja con el objetivo de que el Asentamiento La América, también conocido como Asentamiento La Ceiba, pudiera ser abastecido a través de la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja y, mediante oficio GSD-UEN-GAR-2019-05174 con fecha 11 de diciembre de 2019, la ORAC Huetar Norte de ICAA le informó al INDER que existe capacidad hídrica suficiente para que, la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja pueda aumentar y extender la infraestructura del acueducto hasta el Asentamiento de La América. Asimismo, la ORAC Huetar Norte llevó a cabo un levantamiento preliminar y se estimó una lista de los materiales requeridos para ejecutar dicho proyecto a cargo del INDER y destinado a abastecer a aproximadamente 41 viviendas (informes).
No se estima demostrado el siguiente hecho de relevancia para esta resolución: único) Que los recurrentes hayan planteado alguna gestión ante la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja para solicitar una conexión especial en los términos de lo dispuesto en el artículo 71 del Reglamento de Prestación de Servicios del ICAA (ver informes).
En el sub lite, según indican las Autoridades recurridas, existe una imposibilidad técnica para brindar el servicio de abastecimiento de agua potable para el Asentamiento La América, generada por una falta de capacidad hidráulica, que se refleja tanto en la inexistencia como en la incapacidad de la infraestructura hidráulica del acueducto administrado por la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja. En este sentido, en un caso análogo, la Sala declaró lo siguiente:
“Después de analizar los elementos probatorios aportados y el informe rendido por las autoridades recurridas, con oportuno apercibimiento de las consecuencias previstas en el artículo 44 de la Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, se descarta la vulneración de los derechos fundamentales del amparado. Al respecto tenemos que, el amparado es vecino de la comunidad de Puerto Viejo en Limón y según consta el 22 de abril de 2020, el recurrente presentó una solicitud de Disponibilidad de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado Sanitario ante la Dirección Regional Huetar Atlántica del Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados. Ahora bien, según indicó el accionado, la Unidad de Desarrollo Físico del ICAA, mediante estudio elaborado por que la capacidad de producción de la planta potabilizadora de Sand Box, estableció que está totalmente comprometida con la demanda actual, por tanto, se recomendó no emitir disponibilidad de servicios hasta que no se ejecute un proyecto que permita disminuir los índices de Agua No Contabilizada o que aumente la producción.
Debido a lo expuesto, la Dirección Regional Huetar Atlántica del ICAA, por oficio N° SIGDD-2020-0026470-1-1-1, del día 14 de mayo del 2020, determinó que la propiedad del recurrente se encuentra fuera del área de cobertura del HC-A-01 Acueducto Integrado Hone Creek – Puerto Viejo y del Proyecto Limón Sur, por lo que no existe capacidad hidráulica, y en consecuencia, se denegó su gestión. Según se determinó, la construcción de una nueva planta potabilizadora obedece a la ampliación de cobertura al sector sur, que no incluye a las comunidades de Hone Creek y Puerto Viejo. Una vez incorporados todos los servicios en el acueducto de Limón Sur, se procederá a realizar el balance hídrico y se conocerán las condiciones de operación que, de resultar positivas, reactivarán la solicitud; sin embargo, aún no se han realizado ampliaciones de tubería para las comunidades de Hone Creek, Puerto Viejo y Cahuita.
Como consecuencia, mediante menorando No. GSP-RA-2020-01802 del 31 de julio de 2020, el ICAA ratificó que no existe una tubería principal para conectar el servicio frente a la propiedad del amparado, siendo que la más cercana se encuentra a 160 metros, por lo que la negativa a la no disponibilidad dada al recurrente, obedece a aspectos técnicos.
Desde este panorama, se procede a declarar sin lugar el recurso. En primer lugar, se observa con total claridad que la gestión del recurrente fue oportunamente resuelta de forma negativa en el mes de mayo de 2020, como bien lo indica el accionante. Por otra parte, se le debe indicar al recurrente que el carácter de derecho fundamental al agua potable no implica un acceso irrestricto a dicho servicio público, por cuanto pueden presentarse imposibilidades técnicas o incumplimiento de requisitos infraconstitucionales -como en su caso-, con base en los cuales la Administración, válidamente, puede denegar el servicio. Su inconformidad con lo resuelto en su caso, debe plantearla ante las autoridades accionadas. En este caso, tenemos una gestión de disponibilidad de agua presentada y resuelta antes de la interposición de este recurso, la inconformidad con la negativa en disputa, es propia de plantearse ante las instancias accionadas, máxime que se fundamenta en criterios técnicos. Debido a lo expuesto, el recurso debe ser desestimados...” (Sentencia N° 2020016106 de las 09:20 horas del 28 de agosto de 2020).
Aunado a ello, no consta en autos que los recurrentes hayan planteado alguna gestión ante la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja para solicitar una conexión especial en los términos de lo dispuesto en el artículo 71 del Reglamento de Prestación de Servicios del ICAA. Por consiguiente, se impone declarar sin lugar el extremo por razones similares.
Ahora bien, consta en autos que el INDER, luego de tener un acercamiento con la Oficina Regional de Acueductos Comunales (ORAC) Huetar Norte de ICAA en 2019, generó una iniciativa para financiar y construir un proyecto destinado a mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja con el objetivo de que el Asentamiento La América pudiera ser abastecido a través de la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja. Sin embargo, el acueducto no pudo ser construido porque la ASADA Rincón de La Vieja no contaba con un estudio técnico que determinara la capacidad para brindar el suministro de agua al asentamiento, requisito indispensable para que el INDER pudiera efectuar los diseños, avalúos y presupuestos que servirían posteriormente en los tramites de licitación del proyecto. Posteriormente, el INDER informó a la ORAC Huetar Norte su interés de retomar el proyecto y solicitó un aval actualizado a los planos.
Sin embargo, al momento de rendirse los informes, el ICAA no tenía pendiente alguno en relación con el proyecto para ampliar y mejorar la infraestructura del acueducto administrado por parte de la ASADA de Rincón de La Vieja para abastecer al Asentamiento La América, toda vez que en el año 2019 y 2021 se generaron los insumos técnicos y las aprobaciones correspondientes al proyecto conforme dispone el artículo 45 del Reglamento de ASADAS, siendo requerido un aval del ICAA de previo a cualquier mejora, ampliación o modernización de los acueductos administrados por los operadores delegados. En este sentido, lo cierto es que los planos actualizados tampoco habían sido presentados por parte del INDER ante la ORAC Huetar Norte para su correspondiente revisión y eventual aprobación, en los términos de lo dispuesto en el artículo 45 del Reglamento de ASADAS y el artículo 21 de la Ley Constitutiva del ICAA.
En semejantes condiciones, aunque la Sala no advierta ninguna conducta omisa del ICAA, si nota que el INDER no ha gestionado de forma célere el proyecto que interesa, así que procede a declarar con lugar el recurso en cuanto a dicha institución.
Si bien coincido con la mayoría de la Sala en que el recurso se debe declarar con lugar, difiero sobre dónde residenciar la fase de ejecución del asunto, debido a la inexistencia de mecanismos adecuados previstos por la normativa que rige esta jurisdicción constitucional para dar seguimiento a una sentencia que reviste aspectos técnicos de gran complejidad, como lo es la aprobación definitiva e implantación del proyecto para mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja. En este sentido, lo dispuesto por el Código Procesal Contencioso-Administrativo en materia de ejecución (artículo 155 y siguientes) tiene evidentes ventajas, como la posibilidad de pedir cronogramas, imponer multas, sentar responsabilidades, fiscalizar etapas de cumplimiento, etc. Por ello, de conformidad con lo dispuesto por el artículo 56 de la Ley de Jurisdicción Constitucional, estimo que la fase de ejecución debe realizarse ante el Área de Ejecución del Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, bajo las reglas de ejecución de sentencia de dicho Código.
Se previene a las partes que de haber aportado algún documento en papel, así como objetos o pruebas contenidas en algún dispositivo adicional de carácter electrónico, informático, magnético, óptico, telemático o producido por nuevas tecnologías, estos deberán ser retirados del despacho en un plazo máximo de 30 días hábiles contados a partir de la notificación de esta sentencia. De lo contrario, será destruido todo aquel material que no sea retirado dentro de este plazo, según lo dispuesto en el "Reglamento sobre Expediente Electrónico ante el Poder Judicial", aprobado por la Corte Plena en sesión N° 27-11 del 22 de agosto del 2011, artículo XXVI y publicado en el Boletín Judicial número 19 del 26 de enero del 2012, así como en el acuerdo aprobado por el Consejo Superior del Poder Judicial, en la sesión N° 43-12 celebrada el 3 de mayo del 2012, artículo LXXXI.
Por tanto:
Se declara parcialmente CON LUGAR el recurso, únicamente contra el Instituto de Desarrollo Rural. Se le ordena a Osvaldo Manuel Artavia Carballo, en su calidad de presidente ejecutivo del citado instituto, o a quien se desempeñe en el cargo, que gire las órdenes pertinentes y disponga lo necesario, dentro del ámbito de sus competencias, para que en el término improrrogable de SEIS MESES, contado a partir de la notificación de esta resolución, sean presentados ante el Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillados los planos actualizados del proyecto para mejorar y ampliar la infraestructura hidráulica de la ASADA de Rincón de la Vieja. Asimismo, deberá tomar las medidas necesarias para que el proyecto en cuestión sea concluido en el plazo de DOS AÑOS contado a partir de la aprobación de dichos planos. Se advierte a la autoridad recurrida que, de conformidad con el artículo 71 de la Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, se impondrá prisión de tres meses a dos años o de veinte a sesenta días multa, a quien recibiere una orden que deba cumplir o hacer cumplir, dictada dentro de un recurso de amparo y no la cumpliere o no la hiciere cumplir, siempre que el delito no esté más gravemente penado.
Se condena al Instituto de Desarrollo Rural al pago de las costas, daños y perjuicios causados con los hechos que sirven de base a esta declaratoria, los que se liquidarán en ejecución de sentencia de lo contencioso administrativo. La magistrada Garro Vargas salva el voto respecto a la ejecución de esta sentencia y, de conformidad con el artículo 56 de la Ley de la Jurisdicción Constitucional, dispone que debe realizarse ante el Área de Ejecución del Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo y Civil de Hacienda, bajo las reglas de ejecución, establecidos en los artículos 155 y siguientes del Código Procesal Contencioso Administrativo. Asimismo, ordena que se le remita copia de la sentencia para que se inicie los procedimientos de ejecución de este fallo. Notifíquese.
Fernando Castillo V.
Paul Rueda L.
Luis Fdo. Salazar A.
Jorge Araya G.
Anamari Garro V.
Ingrid Hess H.
Alexandra Alvarado P.
Clasificación elaborada por SALA CONSTITUCIONALdel Poder Judicial. Prohibida su reproducción y/o distribución en forma onerosa.
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