Nevis Administration moves to sustain water supply
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Junior Minister of Communications, Works and Public Utilities Hon. Carlisle Powell
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CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (DECEMBER 5, 2008) -- The Nevis Island Administration (NIA) has intensified its ongoing efforts to ensure an un-interrupted supply of water to more consumers on the island.
The NIA extended the contract of Bedrock Exploration and Development Technologies (BEAD) to assist in facilitating this objective earlier this week and drilling is expected to commence in the New Year. Junior Minister of Communications, Works and Public Utilities Hon. Carlisle Powell made the disclosure on Friday December 5, in an interview with the Department of Information.
“The NRP government took a decision to further extend the contract and after discussions with the principals of BEAD, we have, just this week, agreed to extend the contract to provide up to another half a million gallons of water under the same terms of the original contract. That that new well will be cited in the area of the Hamilton reservoirs,” he said.
Mr. Powell explained that the Administration’s decision was based on the need to provide for an additional supply of contingency water, in the event of line damage or any unforeseen circumstance.
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One of the water wells discovered earlier this year, which now sustains the steady water supply on Nevis (file photo)
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“All the people of Nevis know that when we have water challenges, the people in Hamilton are some of the hardest hit. So we are putting in the new well in the Hamilton area where we hope to get other indicators up to another half a million gallons of water.
“We are hopeful we will be able to have storage higher, so that we will be able to use the traditional gravity fed method to be able to supply all the people of Hamilton and Government Road and those areas which normally cry out when there is any shortage of water,” he said.
Meantime, Mr. Powell pointed to the revamped water supply which he noted had weathered the drought season well due to advance planning by the NIA.
“We were able to put on line two new wells one at Maddens and one at Fothergills. Those were able to feed the entire island of Nevis …
“So even though we had a very dry season, the normal person in Nevis would not know that that was a drought with respect to their supply of water we were able to bridge that with the additional 1million gallons of water,” he said.
Prior to the installation of the wells, he said the Nevis Water Department would have struggled to cope with a steady supply of water given that 2008 was listed as one of the drier years on the island with regard to rainfall.
