BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH water shortage on the island now at a “critical stage”, the Water Department has advised that it might have to prepare and enforce and ration schedule.
Over the past months, the Water Department had advised that water shortage was being experienced in several areas including Lodge, Saddlers and Cedar Grove and those, for the most part, have been rectified.
Recently however, Acting Manager of the Water Department Denison Paul told SKNVibes that the Basseterre Valley Aquifer, from which the Basseterre, Bird Rock, Frigate Bay, South East Peninsula and Half Moon get most of their supply, is at a critical point.
The Basseterre Valley Aquifer, Paul noted, also supplies the rest of the island with 40 percent of its demand.
And he explained that because water continues to be pumped out of the Aquifer, and because there is little or no rainfall, the source is not being replenished.
“We have been experiencing an extremely dry period. In fact, it has not been this bad for the last 50 years or there about. So we have very, very low flows coming from our traditional sources which are our surface water sources and even the underground water sources. We have very little rainfall, the place is extremely dry and hot and so we have a double whammy…
“It has gotten to a point where we are at a critical point in the Basseterre Valley Aquifer and all signs are showing that we cannot continue to pump water the way we have been pumping for the past months. So we have to control the demand by rationing. That means that we are now rationing the supply to those areas between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.”
Seeking to address the situation, Paul informed that the Water Department would be hosting a consultation for stakeholders on Wednesday (Aug. 19) at the NEMA Building. He further informed that a schedule for the rationing of water would have to be created.
“We will, later this week after the consultation, release a rationing schedule but the situation is so urgent that we have already started somewhat in terms of the schedule.
“The Aquifer is a very important asset and we cannot afford to lose it that is why we are taking the precaution now and cutting back on the amount of water we are pumping. It has been reduced by about 40 percent.”
Given the dire situation, Paul’s plea is that all conserve water, especially since "there is no water left to waste".
