Jamaica Implementing Water Restrictions As Dry Season Begins

KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – The National Water Commission (NWC) has begun instituting restrictions at nights, as a conservation strategy, as Jamaica prepares to deal with another dry season.

The NWC said, during the period of restriction, some customers may not experience any disruption, while others will experience low water pressure or have no water between 11:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. (local time).

The dry season usually runs from December to April and NWC president, Michael Barnett, said, that the restriction measure is precautionary.

“It’s really a monitoring approach and being proactive in our effort to ensure that our supplies during the dry period are efficiently utilized. What we have been doing is to constantly assess our inflows into our reservoirs. However, once the rain ceases, the inflow will start to show a consistent decline in levels and for that reason, we are matching our inflows with what we produce,” he said, encouraging citizens to begin practising conservation strategies.

“We definitely need to go back to the conservation measures that were practised during the drought period,” he said.

Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Minister, Robert Pickersgill, said, with the NWC adopting these strategies from very early, it simply means water harvesting techniques and conservation strategies have to become a necessity for home owners.

He said, this is not limited to urban residents, as suburban and rural residents are also affected by drought and that the government is fully behind efforts to conserve water, urging citizens to adopt and practise conservation strategies to protect the country’s water safety.

“We have embraced rainwater harvesting as an integral part of our water security efforts, now and for the future. Under the Catchment Tank Rehabilitation and Rainwater Harvesting Programme, the Rural Water Supply Limited has refurbished 112 catchment tanks at a cost of over J$100 million (one Jamaica dollar=US$0.008 cents), since the start of the programme in 2012,” Pickersgill notes.

“These catchment tanks are benefitting some 35,000 people in several parishes. For the 2014-2015 financial year alone, a total of J$41 million was expended to rehabilitate 35 catchment tanks in Manchester, St. Elizabeth, St. Ann, Clarendon and Westmoreland.

“I firmly believe that rainwater harvesting is the route that we must take, in order to ensure our water security, particularly in the face of climate change impacts, which will intensify drought conditions,” he added.

General Manager for Engineering at Rural Water Supply Limited (RWSL), Douglas Wilson, said, that despite the drought in 2015, more Jamaicans are benefiting from piped water to their homes as a result of the significant strides made in putting in place critical water systems.

Wilson added, that thousands of residents in parishes that were severely impacted by the long periods of inadequate supply are now happy with the supply, as a result of the work of the RWSL, an agency of the Ministry.

“The people are ecstatic and are very happy. We were able to make a significant impact in some of those drought-stricken areas of St. Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Clarendon and other parishes,” he said.