Caribbean countries to pursue rainwater harvesting as water supply option
by Kishawn Thomas
Caribbean Net News Grenada Correspondent
Email: kishawnthomas@hotmail.com
Thursday, November 17, 2005
ST GEORGE'S, Grenada: The Caribbean
Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) has teamed up with the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) on an initiative to promote the use of rainwater
harvesting (RWH).
UNEP has been implementing similar pilot
projects in Asia, Africa and the Pacific and facilitating the formation of a
rainwater partnership. UNEP is now extending this initiative to the Caribbean,
through CEHI, using the lessons learnt from other areas, especially from the
Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Grenada, a typical volcanic island, will be the site of the Caribbean pilot
project. It has very recently suffered the devastating effects of hurricanes
Ivan and Emily with the resulting impact on water availability and quality,
and sanitation. It will be used as a model to illustrate how RHW can be used
to augment water supply and the matching sanitation facilities after a
disaster.
Grenada is attractive for the pilot study as
it has the volcanic morphology of several other states, but also the islands
of Carriacou and Petite Martinique present some of the issues that would be
faced by some of the other non-volcanic islands that have little to no surface
water. CEHI will undertake a number of
activities in Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique aimed at assessing the
current and future utility of rainwater harvesting applications. A programme
will then be developed with the input of local stakeholders for
implementation. This will then be modified and customized, after appropriate
consultations, for CEHI’s other Member States.
“One of the major issues impacting economic and social development, health and
safety is the availability of potable water. In Caribbean Small island
Developing States (SIDS), water is a critical issue because these countries
are surrounded by the ocean, have limited catchment areas and little storage
capacity on land. The situation is worsened by frequent natural disasters such
as hurricanes and floods which destroy infrastructure and cause massive damage
to the environment,” said CEHI Representative Mr. Lindon Robertson.
Mr. Robertson said that this is simple cost and water supply technology has
been practiced for thousands of years, but despite its advantages, it is not
widely used in SIDS.
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