Author: Tecla Fontenard

With the earth furiously heating up, due to poor human practices, the Caribbean will continue to experience reduced annual precipitation.  This means all of us should brace for water shortages as water will become less available.

Under a current partnership with the European Union, the CCCCC is implementing the EU-GCCA+ Programme, ‘Enhancing Climate Resilience in CARIFORUM Countries’.  Saint Lucia is one of several CARIFORUM countries benefitting from water investments under this programme.  The volcanic nature of this island makes it heavily dependent on rainwater harvesting and surface water to meet its freshwater needs.  However, rainwater harvesting is not sufficient to sustain the population’s demand for water in the near or distant future.  According to the CIMH outlook, this year’s El Nino cycle will bring higher temperatures, less rainfall, and a potentially drier start to the dry season.

Placing the Saint Lucia situation in perspective, Ms. Farzana Yusef-Leon, National Project Coordinator for the Saint Lucia Project, who is also a Technical Specialist, Biodiversity and Eco-systems at the OECS Commission said in a recent article, that “poor environmental practices coupled with extreme events give rise to detrimental impacts such as flood, drought, and together with increased temperatures and sea level rise, they affect water availability, quality, quantity and access.”  The importance of investment in water infrastructure and sustainable environmental management practices towards climate adaptation and mitigation within the region is paramount, and the European Union-funded EU-GCCA+ programme is assisting with building climate resilience in that regard.

In 2023, the programme completed two interventions in Saint Lucia, one at the Plain View Combined School, where students will now have access to clean safe water during dry periods.  This investment involved the installation of a rainwater harvesting system and 4 water tanks, each with a 20,000-gallon capacity.  During the hand-over ceremony, held with students in attendance, Mr. David Mogollon, Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean States, CARICOM and CARIFORUM noted that “climate change is a real challenge for all of us, and a lack of water is also a challenge, and it is great that we can do this kind of activity where we can bring access to clean and safe water to this School, and contribute also to educate our future decision makers on the importance of developing good environmental practices”.

To underscore the significance of water to the students, Hon. Shawn Edward, Saint Lucia’s Minister of Education, Sustainable Development, Innovation, Science, Technology, and Vocational Training, requested that they outline the primary uses of water.  He then utilized their responses to highlight the imminent challenges posed by climate change and illustrated that because of climate change, water availability will be reduced, and relying only on surface water is unsustainable. “Rainwater evaporates,” he reminded the students, and “as global temperatures increase and rainfall decreases, streams and rivers will run dry.  This means the water utility company, WASCO, who is responsible for providing us with water, will not be able to pump water to our homes through the usual pipelines, and this can bring about a water crisis.”

With decreased stream flow and groundwater recharge rates, the water stress situation in Saint Lucia is already evident.  “But we do not have to rely only on the water in our streams” Minister Edwards stressed.  “…We can harvest rainwater… When the rain falls, it hits the roof, goes through the guttering, and is channeled through a tank.  It is treated and that is what this project is all about.”

The CCCCC recognises that water would remain at the centre of the climate crisis, as extreme weather events are making water more scarce, more unpredictable, and more polluted.  Speaking at the handing over ceremony of another EU-funded project at Vanard in Saint Lucia, Keith Nichols, Head of special projects at the CCCCC, acknowledged that “Water will remain the most critical element of our existence.  Without water, we do not have health, we do not have tourism, we do not have food, we do not have crops, we do not have a country.  No country can survive without water. It is the single most important commodity in our existence, and we need to do everything we can to protect these resources.”

However, safe access to water means having suitable infrastructure, good environmental practices, and sustainable management to enhance its safety and availability to local populations.  The water project which was inaugurated in Vanard increases water abstraction through infrastructural improvements and enhances water quality through riverbank stabilization using fruit trees and vetiver grass.

Officials at the CCCCC believe in a holistic approach to building climate resilience. As climate-related issues are already impacting the water sector, the focus on the nexus between water and climate will remain a critical factor in achieving a sustainable future for the Caribbean.