The United Nations General Assembly by resolution adopted on 22nd December, 1992 declared the 22nd March of each year as World Water Day. The purpose of WWD is to promote public awareness through the publication and diffusion of documentaries and the organization of conferences, round tables, seminars, and expositions related to the conservation and development of water resources. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Accelerating Change.”
As such, every year the St. Kitts Water Services Department (SKWSD) organizes a Week of Activities around World Water Day to heighten awareness of the importance of conserving our precious and scarce water resources.
This year, we wish to focus the public’s attention on three main (3) issues or areas where we believe we need to Accelerate Change:
1. Financial Investments required to develop additional water sources and infrastructure – due to the rapid socio-economic development of the Federation over the past few decades, especially in the housing and tourism sectors, our water demand has outgrown our supply capacity. We now have to turn to more expensive options such as desalination to augment our existing water supplies.
2. Proper institutional capacity and human resources – the sustainable management of our water resources requires highly trained and skilled persons such as Engineers, Hydrogeologists, Electricians, Mechanics and other Technicians along with the required access to modern technologies.
3. A vigorous Public Awareness and Conservation Campaign (PACC) to ensure the sustainability of the resource especially given the threat of Climate Change. Locally, we have already observed an 18% decrease in rainfall over the past decade. This has very serious implications for water availability as all of our water comes from rainfall.
Amongst the Activities planned this year are:
• An address by the Minister with responsibility for Water, Hon. Konris Maynard
• Church Service at Rivers of Living Water Christian Centre
• Open Day and Exhibition at the La Guerite Water Treatment Plant (March 20th & 21st)
• Customer Appreciation Day on Wednesday, March 22nd (World Water Day)
• Staff Retreat and Professional Development Day (March 24th)
The general public is invited to participate as every single citizen and resident has a role to play in the sustainability of our water resources through conservation.
Management WSD
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