WASA's four reservoirs are operating at capacity to provide an adequate supply of water to its customers during the 2012 dry season. So said WASA's general manager for corporate communications Ellen Lewis. "The reservoirs are at capacity and exceeding long-term average at this time," she said.
The country's four reservoirs-Navet Dam in Tabaquite, Caroni-Arena Dam, Hollis Reservoir in Valencia and Hillsborough Reservoir in Tobago-are capable of providing 18.1 million, 77 million, eight to nine million and 1.6 million gallons of water a day respectively.
When asked if the authority was prepared for possible shortages at the height of the dry season, Lewis said WASA's chief executive officer Ganga Singh gave the assurance at a recent event that all WASA's dams were "filled and spilling over." Singh said the country did not suffer from a lack of water supply but had a water distribution problem.
He said the reservoirs' levels were at maximum since last December and up to the present time all the dams were filled to capacity and water production was at its highest. Singh said the Caroni-Arena dam was exceeding its rated capacity because of the "significant monies" the Government had placed in the areas of water infrastructure.
Water levels
Reservoir levels as at April 10
Facility Lake height Long-term average
Hollis 92.1% 62%
Caroni 100 % 69%
Navet 100% 66%
Hillsborough 91.8% 70.9%
Production lLevels as at 10-04-12
Facility Production Plant capacity
Caroni WTP 70.5 mgd 75 mgd
Hollis 8.4 mgd 8.4 mgd
Navet 19.4 mg 20 mgd
Hillsborough 1.7 mgd 1.7 mgd
Desal 29 mgd 32 mgd