WATER WATCH - Wasting prohibition looms as Jamaica battles prolonged drought

The Government is not ruling out implementing a prohibition order against water wasting to mitigate against drought conditions that are expected to continue into the next three months.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Minister of Water, Environment and Climate Change Matthew Samuda announced that the prohibition will take effect on August 10, saying the measure is essential to ensuring a smooth start to the new academic year.

“We will take the measures that we absolutely need to ensure that we are able to safeguard the reopening of schools in September and not contribute to learning loss,” he said.

A prohibition order in Jamaica is a legal ban issued by the National Water Commission (NWC) to stop the waste or excessive use of potable water for non-essential tasks during severe droughts.

Offenses that are punishable by a fine or imprisonment for up to 30 days include watering of gardens, lawns, grounds and farms, refilling of tanks, ponds, or swimming pools and/or for use other than normal domestic services; and washing of vehicles by the use of a hose.

“We do hope that the situation will change but with the information that we have,this is the best decision that we can make at this stage,” he said.

El Niño phenomenon

Principal Director of the Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, said 10 parishes recorded below-normal rainfall at the end of June, with St Elizabeth, St James, St Ann and St Mary experiencing drought conditions, while Manchester and St Catherine were on the borderline.

July, he noted, is considered the mid-summer drought month, with rainfall being very little and scant across the island.

Thompson said the El Niño phenomenon is one of the main factors contributing to the prevailing dry conditions. He noted that El Niño developed in June and has continued to strengthen throughout July, with forecasts indicating the trend will persist.

“The latest El Niño temperatures were measured at about 1.2 degrees Celsius, which is the deviation from the normal temperatures. So, at 0.5 degrees, we consider it an El Niño,” Thompson said.

He stated that it has moved past that to 1.2 degrees.

“When it gets to 1.5 degrees, we consider it a major El Niño event. In some cases, it is referred to as a super El Niño, getting past two degrees above the normal temperature,” he said.

Thompson said the likelihood of a strong El Niño has also risen to 55 per cent for the July to September three-month period.

Further, he said the percentage likelihood of development can increase to up to 80 per cent in October, November, December.

Water sources

Peter Clarke, managing director of the Water Resources Authority, highlighted that a number of the island’s surface water sources are showing signs of decline, especially in the eastern parishes.

Corporate public relations manager at the NWC, Delano Williams, stated that 73 of its water sources across the island are showing decline ranging from 20 per cent to some as much as 80 per cent.

He said the Mona Reservoir and Heritage Dam, which serve the Kingston and St Andrew area, are currently at 62 per cent and 47 per cent capacity, respectively.

He reiterated that customers served by the Mona Reservoir in the Corporate Area are to have their water supply rationed, starting Monday, August 3, due to reduced inflows. The Mona Reservoir supplies several communities, including sections of Old Hope Road, New Kingston, Cross Roads, Mountain View, downtown Kingston and surrounding areas.

Williams, in the meantime, encouraged customers to practice conserving water.

“The more critical thing is that with the coming lock-offs, you are going to have periods when you need water and there is none in the pipe, which means your storage is going to be no more necessary,” he said.

Meanwhile, Samuda highlighted steps already taken in the response to the drought.

This, he said, includes the allocation of $86 million to members of parliaments (MPs) for trucking in their constituencies. He said the estimated cost of drought response, if the conditions persist, will be in the range of half a billion dollars, with approximately $100 million of trucking monthly.

“That would be split evenly between the NWC, who would service critical infrastructure including hospitals, health centres, schools, police stations, ... [and] members of parliament managing areas within their constituency that have particular elevations or may have pressure issues or have other issues in terms of getting water supply to them, and would be supplemented by parish councils working outside of the utility footprint.”

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com