Big gap between water supply and demand

DR STEVE Fletcher of the Water Resources Agency, Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA),  said on Wednesday that they were constantly being challenged to deal with water management. He compared the current scenario to the water situation in 2001 when the country experienced critical water shortages.

Fletcher was speaking at the Youth Forum on “Water As A Resource” at the Faculty of Engineering. 

The project is a joint venture between the Ministry of Public Utilities and the Environment, WASA, UWI’s Faculty of Engineering and the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of TT to gather constructive input from youths on water management.

“As we speak, the issue of  allocation of water resources within the Caroni Water Basin, our country’s major water source, is indeed a worrying one,” said Fletcher.

He said supply and demand for water did not balance and the availability of fresh water on a yearly basis was 3,600 million cubic metres.

demand is 368 million cubic metres and supply is approximately 346 million cubic metres.

Availability is about ten times the demand, which indicates that TT is not a “water scarce country by any means,” Fletcher said. However, he said the problem was getting an adequate water supply when and where we need it.

Prudent management is necessary to fill the gap between supply and demand, Fletcher said, in addition to preserving the quality of the water which is being threatened by effluent discharges in water courses. He added that one volume of polluted water affected eight volumes of good water.

Public Utilities Minister Rennie Dumas said the draft national policy was working towards a sustainable and environmentally sound approach to achieving developed country status by 2020.

Dumas pointed out that “water is everybody’s business” and urged the youths to become part of the participatory and decision-making process on the future of water in this country.

Sports Minister Roger Boynes also delivered remarks at yesterday’s promotion, and complimented Dumas on the fact that over 1,900 households in his constituency benefitted from water infrastructure last year.