SABA--Considering the severity of the ongoing drought on Saba and throughout the region, the Executive Council has decided to increase water storage on the island. To help reduce the cost price of water an emergency subsidy for consumers will be introduced within two weeks.
In providing an update on the water situation on Saba, the Executive Council said that after closely monitoring the situation for some time, it has decided on both short- and long-term measures to alleviate the burden that the lack of regular, significant rainfall creates for residents.
One of these measures is the implementation of an emergency subsidy for as long as the drought continues. The policy will be financed by the Dutch government from funds allocated for water projects.
Special relief funds for low-income households are available through the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, which provide persons who qualify with potable water at no cost. Persons who qualify may contact the Department of Social Affairs for more information.
The Department of Public Works recently completed a survey on water levels in all government cisterns and will continue to do this until the drought is over.
The Executive Council stays in regular contact with the two water-plant operators who have been keeping up with the demand for water throughout the duration of the drought, and have been cooperating in providing their production-output figures to government, it was stated.
The Executive Council is planning a communication campaign to inform the public about the subsidy, as well as to advise the public on water usage.
For the future, increased water storage will be the main priority; some projects are already underway. Currently, there is an ongoing project in Windwardside, which includes the construction of a grey-water cistern. This project will be completed before the end of the year. When finished this cistern will hold approximately 125,000 gallons of grey water.
In addition, the Executive Council has also secured funding to install water pipes from Fort Bay to The Bottom. The installation of pipes and required pumps will be done during the repaving of Fort Bay Road. The pipes will allow for potable water to be pumped from the harbour to the large cistern in The Range.
Another element of this project entails the construction of two additional cisterns below the new SEC building along Fort Bay Road. Each cistern is to hold approximately 75,000 gallons of water. The cistern at the new school building, which will be constructed in St. John’s, will also be expanded in order to increase water-storage capacity.
With these projects water storage would be increased significantly. This would allow water producers to continue water production even when there is significant rainfall. It is expected that this would mitigate some of the problems created during severe droughts.
The Executive Council said it would continue pursuing initiatives to increase water storage when funding becomes available and there is available land to build additional cisterns. In the meantime, the Executive Council urges the population to conserve water as much as possible.
