EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Groundwater Resources Monitoring Report and Management Plan
Utila, Honduras
June 2002

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) contracted Brown and Caldwell
to perform groundwater monitoring studies for the Island of Utila (Utila) and the municipalities of
Villanueva, Choloma, La Lima, and the resettlement community of Limón de la Cerca near
Choluteca. This Groundwater Resources Monitoring Report and Management Plan presents the
results of the groundwater monitoring study and includes a groundwater resource management plan
to help ensure the sustainable management of the groundwater resources for Utila, Honduras.
Background
Utila is one of the three main islands of the Bay Islands archipelago located about 30 kilometers
(km) (19 miles) north of the coast of mainland Honduras in the Caribbean Sea. Almost all of Utila’s
population lives on the eastern one-third of the island, in an area called East Harbor, also known as
Utila Town. Also, a small number of residents live in a fishing village, known as Los Cayitos, off of
Utila’s southwestern coastline and inhabits two cays, or small islands, known as Pigeon (Lower) Cay
and Jewel (Upper) Cay.
Utila is a low relief island. Geologically, the western two-thirds of the island consists of a cap of
coralline limestone and carbonate sediments that is underlain by metamorphic rocks. This part of
the island is characterized by low-lying areas that contain mangrove swamps and savannas with
brackish surface water. The eastern third of the island consists of Holocene volcanics characterized
by two hills, or relief cones. Stuart Hill (elevation 51 meters (m) (167 feet (ft))) is located
approximately 2 km (1.2 miles) inland from the center of East Harbor, and Pumpkin Hill (elevation
74 m (243 ft)) is located on the northeastern coast about 6 km (3.7 miles) from East Harbor. The
land between these two landmarks contains rolling hills covered in dense vegetation. The entire
island is surrounded by an extensive coral reef. The climate of Utila is considered tropical, with
annual precipitation ranging between 2,200 millimeters (mm) (87 inches (in)) and 2,600 mm (102 in)
per year.