‘God bless the likkle river!’

Jamaicans, particularly those impacted by restrictions from the National Water Commission (NWC), are being forced to endure worsening drought conditions as rainfall remains scarce and water levels drop to critical lows across the island. With September still weeks away and no significant rain in sight, many are left hoping for relief amid a crisis that continues to deepen.

The Mona Reservoir and Hermitage Dam, two of the Corporate Area’s main water sources, are both at below half their capacities. The Mona Reservoir, which has a storage capacity of 809 million gallons, was recently recorded at just 295 million gallons. The Hermitage Dam, with a full capacity of 394 million gallons, was down to 164 million gallons. The NWC has labelled the situation “critical”, pointing to the urgent need to conserve and manage what little supply remains.

Contributing to the problem are severely reduced inflows from key rivers. Inlets from the Hope and Yallahs rivers, which once delivered hundreds of gallons per second to the Mona Reservoir, have slowed to a trickle. The riverbeds are now lined with green morass, a clear sign of the sustained dry spell. A recent visit to the Hope River Dam in Gordon Town, St Andrew, revealed a completely dry landscape. Meanwhile, the Rio Cobre Dam in Spanish Town, St Catherine, was still flowing, where a group of teenagers was seen taking turns cooling off.

“It stresses my brain because I want to go wash and I can’t wash, and I’m not going to wash in that river that everybody is bathing in. Are you crazy? Every single day, you get up looking for water. There is no water in the pipe. Every day,” bemoaned Angella Blake, a resident of the Mammee River community in rural St Andrew.

She said the water restriction runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily and greatly hampers the completion of her domestic chores.

“What are you going to do? Get up there and wash, clean and cook? You can’t use river water to cook, and you can’t use river water bathe; I know that because when I use it, my skin scratches me. I have a tank so I try to fill it up whenever the water comes. Sometimes, they charge me $20,000; it’s not cheap so you have to take your time with it,” she continued.

“You look in the river and water is in it, yet we can’t get any in our pipes,” fumed Blake.

Inefficiencies in

the system

Blake also expressed frustration at the inefficiencies in the system, pointing out that she often sees water gushing from broken mains in parts of the city, while her community remains dry.

Byron Wray, another resident of the community, said he, too, had not seen water in his pipe for hours last Tuesday. Unlike Blake, however, he has resorted to pulling water from the Mammee River to offset the water shortage. He understands that the water may have contaminants, but said he takes steps to purify it before usage.

“God bless the likkle river!” he said.

“They give us the water in one- and two-day spells. It affects everybody around here, and the people who live on the hill are suffering more,” he continued. “I don’t buy water. I can’t afford it. It is the river water I use straight.”

On Red Hills Road in St Andrew, cookshop, bar and other business operators last week bemoaned the effects of water lock-offs, which they said occur from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily in their area. For some, like Peta-Gaye Hendricks*, whose party ice business has been suffering.

“For a couple weeks now they have been cutting the water, but when they started, it was coming back at 6 p.m. However, since lately, we start seeing it coming back later and later, sometimes after 8 p.m., and sometimes we see it going away before 6:00 in the mornings.

“I have been having to purchase the filtered water to use in the ice machine, which economically doesn’t make any sense. So I’m highly irritated,” she explained, adding that sometimes after the water returns, it is often discoloured and distasteful, requiring time to run off before it returns to normal.

Residents in sections of Portmore, St Catherine, also complained about water lock-offs; however, the NWC noted that those disruptions are most likely related to major improvement work being executed under the Portmore Non-Revenue Water Reduction Project and other activities in the area, than as a direct result of the Corporate Area restriction schedule.

Last month, Matthew Samuda, minister with responsibility for water, announced a $350-million drought mitigation programme for immediate relief and strengthening Jamaica’s long-term drought resilience.

Of the $350 million, $250 million will be managed by the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, with $150 million going towards trucking at the direction of members of parliament. Additionally, $50 million has been allocated to the NWC for trucking support, and another $50 million toward the purchase of water storage tanks to support vulnerable communities.

Samuda said that a further $100 million was slated to be spent on water trucking, drip irrigation systems, and grass purchases to protect the livelihoods of farmers.

Drought mitigation

In the meantime, the NWC continues its drought mitigation, which started last month, employing scheduled water lock-offs that have left some consumers annoyed and infuriated.

“It is unusual that this sort of intervention takes place at this time of the year ... . We are not getting the rainfall that is in line with our 30-year calculated averages, and that, in and of itself, creates a very difficult circumstance for the water sector,” Samuda noted during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

Charles Buchanan, corporate public relations manager at the NWC, explained that Jamaica’s rainfall pattern usually sees a period of drought from December to March, with an increase in rainfall by May, which continues into June. September through November is usually the period with the highest rainfall, barring any unique weather conditions such as hurricanes.

“Normally, things would have been well in July, but this particular year, as with climate change, things don’t normally go the way they are supposed to. This year, we have had limited rainfall, especially in this part of the country,” he charged. “We did not get the May/June rains that we would normally receive, and so we are on a continuous decline. Last year was pretty good, but with the continuous month after month of below-normal rainfall, particularly in the Hope River watershed and Yallahs/Negro River watershed, ... inflows to the reservoir are less than the demand. You are having to use more water than what is being replenished every day.”

He explained that the water lock-offs are necessary to ensure that the extremely limited supply in the reservoir is not being used up by the high volume of demand. Some customers, particularly those who live on hilly slopes, may find it more challenging for the water to reach them after it is restored. He explained that even while restoration is set for 6 p.m. in some areas, for example, water might not reach some households until later, based on distance and other factors.

Charles added that the drought conditions have also driven up the NWC’s operation costs, requiring the usage of pumping equipment, trucks, and the implementation of other water sources such as wells, which normally would not have been used.

For the most part, the water lock-offs have been working, he told The Sunday Gleaner.

“When we started, we were falling by about at least a couple of million gallons, about one per cent per day. With the restrictions, we are now declining at less than half a per cent per day. We would prefer to see it stabilised and start climbing,” said Buchanan.

“The experience of the customer will vary based on their point on the system, the elevation they are at, whether or not they are near to a dead end or whether they are along a section ... . You will have two customers, one on the top end and the other at the lower end, and they have two different experiences,” he said, adding that though the water that returns to the tap may be discoloured due to sediments in the pipes, it is still of the highest standard.

*Name changed.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com