Dry season pressure mounts on Costa Mar's power exports

The Río Esperanto reservoir system has fallen to 62 percent capacity as of Friday morning, according to the Federal Hydro Authority's latest reading from the monitoring station at Punta Negra. The decline comes as Tierra Verde and Oriente Moderno have requested additional power exports to meet air-conditioning demand during an unusual heat event across both regions.

Costa Mar's grid operators have maintained the region's domestic supply without interruption, but the margin for error has narrowed. The Marine Ministry warned on Thursday that if rainfall does not return to seasonal patterns within the next four weeks, rationing of non-essential exports may become necessary by late July.

The tension between conservation and economic obligation has surfaced in Puerto Azul's assembly, where tourism operators and renewable-energy exporters have begun to clash over how the region should manage its water as both a commodity and a finite resource.