"Real and current, not future or potential." That is how AyA, Costa Rica's national water utility, describes the supply it must be able to show before it can certify water availability for a property. The phrase comes from AyA's sworn report in a 2024 Sala Constitucional case from the Sardinal district, which also covers Playa Hermosa and its neighbors. Anyone buying a hillside lot above the Gulf of Papagayo should read those five words before reading the listing.
Owning a lot here does not give you the right to build on it. The building permit depends on a separate document, the water availability letter, and the lots that earn a premium for their views are often the ones that have the most trouble getting it.
The Document Between the Deed and the Permit
The Municipalidad de Carrillo regulates construction across the canton, including Playa Hermosa, Playas del Coco, Ocotal and Playa Panamá. Its construction regulation has been in force since July 2018. Under it, a permit application filed on the municipal APC platform must include proof of water for the project. The rule covers more than new homes. As quoted in the court record, it also applies to repairs, expansions, earthworks and demolitions.
The regulation accepts proof of water from one of three sources:
- A letter from AyA or an ASADA, the community water associations that run many local systems under delegation from AyA, certifying water availability for the project.
- For a mechanized well, a water certificate issued by MINAE's Dirección de Aguas.
- For a hand-dug well, a potability study, which applies only to housing or to whatever use is registered with the Dirección de Aguas.
Which operator handles a particular parcel varies within the district. AyA's published list of delegated ASADAs in Sardinal includes Playa Cacique, Artola, San Blas de Sardinal, Libertad de Sardinal and Hermosa Mar Vista Estates, among others. In Playa Panamá, a 2020 agreement between AyA, the national tourism institute ICT and ASADA Playa Cacique arranged for bulk water from the Trancas-Papagayo system to reach the community. Guanacaste a la Altura reported the signing. The list shows which ASADAs hold a delegation. It does not map parcels to operators, so that has to be confirmed address by address.
Why the View Costs Water Pressure
The clearest example of how this works comes from Ocotal, a short drive from Playa Hermosa in the same district. In 2023, AyA received a request for a water availability letter for a residential lot. AyA issued a formal certificate of non-availability instead. The Sala Constitucional resolution dated June 7, 2024 sets out AyA's engineering reasons.
| Factor in the AyA report | Figure |
|---|---|
| Elevation of the lot | 82 meters above sea level |
| Elevation where AyA's pipe ends | 51 meters above sea level |
| Height difference | 31 meters |
| Horizontal distance to the lot | About 770 meters |
| Minimum service pressure AyA must deliver | 10 mca, or 14 psi |
The Playas del Coco–Ocotal system runs on gravity. AyA's service rules require it to maintain minimum pressure 24 hours a day, including at peak demand. A lot sitting 31 meters above the end of the line could not get that pressure, so AyA concluded that extending the network to it was not technically feasible.
The court did not order AyA to issue the letter. It said that access to drinking water depends on whether supply is materially possible, and that a provider may deny service when it faces technical impossibility or has technical or legal grounds to refuse.
That case illustrates the main point of this post. The height that gives a lot an unbroken view of the bay is the same height a gravity-fed system has trouble reaching. A higher lot is worth more for its view and is also more exposed to a water denial, so a buyer who pays the view premium without settling the water question is paying for something they may not be able to build on.
A Letter Counts Only If the Right Operator Issued It
The same case shows a second problem. A water availability letter had been issued in 2019 by a private company running a local system in Ocotal. When a permit application was filed, the municipality would not accept that letter. The court found that the operator had no delegation agreement with AyA, and ARESEP, the national utilities regulator, had concluded that availability letters issued under that arrangement had no validity for permitting.
So holding a letter was not enough. To be accepted for a permit, the letter had to come from AyA or from an ASADA with a valid delegation. A request to AyA in August 2023 resulted in the denial described above. Before relying on a letter, check who issued it, whether that issuer holds an AyA delegation for the area, and whether the letter covers the parcel's current cadastral plan.
Capacity in a Dry Year
Elevation is a fixed feature of each lot. Overall capacity in the district changes from year to year. In 2024, according to data from the Observatorio de Turismo y Migraciones de la Región Chorotega at UNA, 22 ASADAs in Guanacaste did not have the technical capacity to grant new water availability. Seventeen of them were clustered around four tourism districts, and Sardinal was one of the four. Semanario Universidad reported the figures on June 10, 2026 and noted that these systems are in the same places that saw the most residential tourism growth over the past decade.
These are counts of individual systems that could not take new connections. They do not mean there is a district-wide moratorium, and nothing in our research shows one for Sardinal. In practice, the answer depends on which operator serves your parcel and what that operator's capacity is at the moment you apply.
This year, that capacity is under pressure. The IMN, Costa Rica's national weather institute, projects that the North Pacific will get up to 50 percent less rain than normal during the current El Niño. By September 24, 2026, 32 ASADAs had reported rationing in 74 communities across 11 cantons, affecting roughly 6,525 service connections, and Carrillo was one of those cantons. In the same El Observador report, updated IMN projections said the event had reached very strong intensity and could last until June 2027. The report does not say which Carrillo communities were affected.
The national El Niño contingency strategy also names coastal aquifers in peripheral systems in Carrillo as a concern, and plans for tanker truck routes and scheduled rationing in high-risk ASADA networks. For a buyer, the question is not whether a particular street has been rationed. A new availability letter depends on capacity that is real and current, and an operator managing a drought has less of it to commit.
Why a Project in Progress Doesn't Help Yet
Playa Hermosa does have new supply coming. AyA's Trancas II project includes a new well expected to add more than two million liters a day, plus 715 meters of pipe, with an investment of more than ₡721 million. It is meant to serve more than 1,600 people in Playa Hermosa, Playa Panamá and Papagayo. As of July 2025, it was 39 percent complete after three months of work, and Diario Extra reported completion expected in the first half of 2026.
That July 2025 report gave a forecast, not a finish date, so whether Trancas II is now in service is something to confirm directly with AyA or the local operator. Under the standard AyA cited in the Ocotal case, availability depends on infrastructure that exists now, not on infrastructure that is planned. That means a sales pitch built on "water is coming" has no effect on the permit file until the well is pumping and the operator has formally added the capacity. Once that happens, conditions for some parcels may change. A sensible step is to ask the operator whether the new capacity is in service, then request the letter.
How This Shows Up in Pricing
When we advise on land and pre-build sales in this corridor, a current letter from a recognized operator is treated as a pricing input. It is not paperwork to deal with after closing. Two lots with the same view and size are different products if one has a valid letter for its current plan and the other has only a listing description saying water is available.
For sellers, getting the letter before marketing a lot is often the clearest way to support the asking price. For buyers, the order of steps matters. How the purchase contract handles water availability, including any contingency or deadline, is a question for your Costa Rican attorney. What we can explain is the sequence the municipality uses: deed, then water letter, then permit. The middle step is the one that varies with elevation, operator and the weather.
Questions We Hear on This Topic
Does a water meter on a neighboring lot mean mine will get service? Not necessarily. In the Ocotal case, AyA's refusal depended on the lot's elevation compared with the end of the pipe and on the system's capacity. Being near existing service did not decide it.
Can a well replace the letter? Carrillo's regulation accepts a MINAE Dirección de Aguas certificate for a mechanized well, or a potability study for a hand-dug well, limited to housing or the registered use. Each route has its own requirements, and an engineer and attorney should review them for the specific parcel.
Is there a construction moratorium in Sardinal? Our research found no blanket moratorium. The reporting describes individual ASADA systems that could not take new connections in 2024, along with drought conditions in 2026.
If you are looking at a view lot around Playa Hermosa, or getting land ready to sell, ACT Costa Rica can help you confirm which operator serves the parcel and where its water letter stands before you set a price or an offer. Request a Private Consultation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
