Dam nonsense
Published:Tuesday | January 4, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Former NWC president scoffs at proposals to solve Corporate Area water woes
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
The management of the National Water Commission (NWC) has dismissed the suggestion that the desilting of the Mona Reservoir and the Hermitage Dam would solve the frequent water woes faced by residents of the Corporate Area and Portmore, St Catherine.
Another proposal for the damming of the Bog Walk gorge has also been tossed into the trash can by the NWC management team.
Former president of the NWC, E.G. Hunter, says these proposals are simplistic and would not solve the problem.
For Hunter, the easiest proposal to reject is the one to dam the gorge.
"The limestone formation which is in the gorge means that, (if) you dam it, you fill it ... it would leak out by the next day. Not only that, when you dam the gorge, the backwater from that, you would have to relocate Kent Village, and then there are also environmental concerns," he told The Gleaner in a recent exit interview.
According to Hunter, who demitted office at the end of last month, the commission is spending millions of dollars to move more water into the Corporate Area and Portmore, which should reduce what has become an almost annual lock-off faced by residents of these areas.
He rubbished claims that the NWC was to blame because it does not properly store water during the rainy periods to ensure adequate supply during the inevitable dry months.
"There is a common misconception in Jamaica that water storage means surface storage. There is such a thing as underground storage, and that is what you call the aquifer," Hunter said.
"Hermitage and Mona are the only two surface-storage facilities in Jamaica. There is none in Montego Bay, or Falmouth or Ocho Rios, and there is nobody in these areas saying we want more water storage. Have you ever wondered why?" Hunter asked.
Yearlong reliable yield
He noted that on the north coast, there are large reservoirs of water in rivers which provide a yearlong reliable yield (the least amount of water you get in the worst conditions) to meet the needs of residents of those parishes.
"For example, at the Martha Brae, the reliable yield is about 80 million gallons per day, and the NWC only takes off about 10 million gallons. Where the reliable yield of your inflow is high, then storage is not mandatory," argued Hunter.
He said the problem facing the Corporate Area and St Catherine is that the reliable yield of the rivers that goes into Hermitage and Mona is very low.
This is compounded by the fact that 70 per cent of the water is on the north coast, while 65 per cent of the people live on the south coast.
"You can do either of two things: relocate the population to where the water is, which is not practical, or you can make huge investments to transport the water from where it is to where you want it.
"Even if you had a bigger Mona Reservoir - that is, you expand the capacity - it would be empty half the time as the rate of replenishment is low, and this is not a figment of my imagination. It has been studied over the years."
The former NWC president added: "That is why, in the late '70s, we went to Bog Walk (St Catherine) and pulled water into Kingston, and when that was not enough, we went out to Yallahs (St Thomas) in the '80s and brought in more water."
Hunter argued that six years ago a study showed that it would cost about US$10 million to desilt the Hermitage Dam, with a resultant gain of about 10 more days of water.
He told The Gleaner that the solution is to move water from where it is into the Corporate Area and Portmore.
Against that background, the NWC has determined that at the worst point of a drought the Corporate Area and Portmore need about 20 million gallons of water. Already 17 million of that has been identified through a project which will take more water from the Rio Cobre, as well as rehabilitate some wells.
"If the drought was to come this year, March or April, we would be much better prepared," said Hunter.
Do you have solutions to Jamaica's water crisis? Email your ideas to letters@gleanerjm.com