Professor and Chair of Water Resources Management & Infrastructure Royal Agricultural University, England, Dr Kiran Tota-Maharaj has warned that the drought and a lack of water are adversely affecting all sectors in T&T, from small businesses to the agriculture sector.
The drought and the accompanying water shortages that T&T has experienced over the last few months are having a negative effect on the economic lifeline of the country.
Although the month of April started with rainfall in some parts of the country, experts who spoke to the Business Guardian all agree that the water shortages and drought are some of the worst that have hit T&T in decades.
“Droughts pose multifaceted challenges, affecting livelihoods, health, and the environment. Mitigating their impact requires proactive measures, sustainable water management, and community resilience. Droughts can have far-reaching impacts on both businesses and wider society. The economic impact includes crop loss. Reduced water availability leads to crop failure, affecting agricultural productivity. Farmers face financial losses due to damaged or failed crops,” Tota-Maharaj told the Business Guardian.
He also spoke about the impact an irregular water supply can have on companies’ and businesses’ operations.
“Water restrictions during severe droughts cause water utilities/companies to impose restrictions on usage. Hosepipe bans, reduced irrigation, and limitations on industrial water use affect businesses and households. Supply chain disruptions: Businesses relying on water-intensive processes face disruptions due to limited water availability,” said Tota-Maharaj.
He pointed out that water shortages can also have a negative impact on long-term economic growth.
“There is also a productivity decline. Reduced water availability affects industrial output, leading to economic losses.”
There are also environmental consequences of droughts that will impact businesses and the national economy, he added.
“There are forest fires. Dry conditions often increase the risk of wildfires, damaging ecosystems and threatening lives and property. Land degradation: Erosion, loss of vegetation cover, and altered carbon cycles impact soil health and biodiversity. There are also insect invasions. Drought-stressed plants become vulnerable to pests and diseases.”
T&T’s authorities have also admitted that there is a water crisis that the country is facing.
At a media conference in early March, the Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (WASA) director of operations, Shaira Ali said this was the “worst drought in recent memory.”
Acknowledging WASA’s problems and limitations, in March, the Minister of Public Utilities, Marvin Gonzales said as part of its plan to restructure WASA, the Human Resource Advisory Committee (HRAC) of Cabinet is reviewing the recommendation for the compensation package for its 426 managers with the aim of reducing that by up to 50 per cent.
Because of the water shortages, WASA officials also gave a new supply schedule which will see most areas throughout the country receiving a supply two to three days per week on a 12-hour shift and warned citizens to be careful with water usage.
Solutions
Tota-Maharaj, who is a water and environmental engineer, described the serious situation the country is facing and spoke about WASA’s role in ensuring that the problems are dealt with.
“T&T is currently facing one of its worst droughts in recent times. This situation has unfortunately prompted the implementation of new water restrictions. WASA faces significant challenges due to the unprecedented dry conditions, and conservation efforts are crucial to ensure water availability for everyone during this period.”
He added that the deficit of water resources and potable water production is a result of lesser than average precipitation levels (low rainfall events).
“Both natural and engineered hydrosystems (dams such as the Navet Dam, Caroni-Arena Dam, Hollis Reservoir, and the Hillsborough Reservoir in Tobago) are all currently severely affected. The installation of digital devices at the country’s main reservoirs allows constant monitoring of water levels, aiding in some improved efficient water distribution systems. While the specific impact of La Niña and El Niño on this drought have not been explicitly mentioned by recent reports, these climate phenomena can influence weather patterns throughout the Caribbean region.”
He spoke about possible solutions that WASA can undertake.
“Optimisation of groundwater resources is urgently required, including artificial aquifer recharge programmes. This is the process of spreading or impounding surface water on the land to increase the infiltration through the soil and percolation to the aquifer during the rainy season or by injecting water by wells directly into the aquifer.
“WASA needs this for groundwater aquifer systems especially during the rainy season, of setting water supply in the dry season. Of importance is dealing with saltwater intrusion. For example, the Las Lomas aquifer has been mined over the past 20 years without sustainable aquifer recharge systems in place, resulting in major deficits from the Las Lomas Water Treatment Plant of about 50 per cent potable water production.”
He said non-revenue water and leakage management requires rapid intervention.
“The critical water infrastructure system throughout T&T is too leaky (loss of 50 per cent of productivity vs distribution). These financial hits the utility (WASA) incurs annually cannot be sustained for much longer. Customer leakage management needs to be better understood on the scheduled system when tanks are over filled, again leading to water loss.”
Given changing weather patterns and future droughts, he spoke about other specific initiatives that WASA should consider in a comprehensive approach that combines short-term and long-term strategies.
Some steps, Tota-Maharaj suggests WASA needs to take:
“Water conservation and efficiency measures are important. There must be continued public awareness campaigns. Educate the public about water conservation practices periodically. Encourage responsible water use, leak detection, and efficient irrigation methods.”
Other measures that WASA should take include retrofitting infrastructure and upgrading existing water supply systems to minimise losses due to leaks and inefficiencies.
He gave, as an example, the need for WASA to implement smart meters to monitor water consumption accurately and identify areas of high usage.
Diversification of water sources is another step WASA should take, he said.
“There is rainwater harvesting. Promote rainwater harvesting systems for residential and commercial buildings across both islands. Expand and explore desalination technologies with Desalcott and SevenSeas to convert additional seawater into freshwater resources. They can also investigate and develop sustainable groundwater sources and aquifer recharge programmes during the rainy season.”
He also said reservoir management is another important component of ensuring a steady water supply when T&T experiences future droughts.
“There must be storage capacity. Increase storage capacity by constructing additional reservoirs or expanding existing ones. Drought-resilient reservoirs: Re-design, construct, operate and maintain water reservoirs with novel features to withstand prolonged dry periods, reducing evapo-transpiration rates.”
Build new ponds
Professor emeritus, University of the West Indies (UWI) and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Trinidad and Tobago, Winston Suite told the Business Guardian that the water shortages will get worse before it gets better and gave examples of different areas of the economy that will be affected.
“The dry season is upon us; it is going to get worse. This will impact homes as there will be shortage of water. Agriculture will be affected.
“Farmers already have problems as they need to wet their plants and crops. They cannot ration that water. Small businesses will also be affected.”
He said in the past, he also suggested that waste water from the sewage system be converted into potable water.
“This type of water should have been stored and treated and recycled back into the system for firefighting, for agriculture and industrial use. All of the businesses places that use water should be encouraged to store water on their sites.”
He recommends the building of ponds to harvest water during the rainy season.
“We should have dealt with the question of water management during the rainy season. I suggested along the east-west corridor from as far as far east as Piarco, they should have dug ponds to save and store the flood waters during the rainy season. I saw a couple months ago, there were some efforts to clear the ponds by Bamboo Settlement. That was not finished. That’s an example of where the ponds should be. Use the flood water to save water. That stored water would have helped us now with the dry season.”