Minister: 'We are managing water problems'

PUBLIC Utilities Minister Robert Le Hunte said steps are being taken to ensure the population has an adequate water supply during the current drought conditions.

Le Hunte said the drought not something which was created by the Water and Sewerage Authority (WASA) or himself and is "well documented" by the Meteorological Office.

This is not the first time the country has faced a drought, he said, recalling that in 2010, water production dropped from 240 million to 180 million gallons per day, and drastic cutbacks were made. Water production currently stands at 215 million gallons per day, Le Hunte said, and efforts are being made to ensure that water resources are properly managed.

This includes rehabilitating old wells, drilling new wells and talking with Desalcott about boosting its production from the desalination plant. Twenty-seven wells were identified for rehabilitation and 25 have been rehabilitated to date. He said a further 15 wells are also being looked at.

With 60 per cent of the country's water resources being surface water, Le Hunte said drought conditions will affect them.

He acknowledged that WASA has aged infrastructure and steps are being made to upgrade it. Compared to other countries, TT has a high water usage, he said, and of the 240 million gallons per day the country produces, it should only be using 115 million gallons.

Not all parts of the country have a 24/7 water supply and changes in the water schedules have inconvenienced some communities, he admitted, but to have a 24/7 water supply and high usage, the country would need to produce 270 million gallons a day.

To cater for the harsh dry season, Le Hunte said WASA has developed a water management supply plan, which includes redistributing water from unaffected areas with high pressures to more water-stressed areas on the periphery of the distribution system, enhanced leak repairs and increased water trucking.

Le Hunte also stressed the need for everyone to play their part in water conservation and not engage in blame games, because this creates a false reality. The water problems will not be solved overnight by magic, he stressed, but by addressing those problems systematically.

In a release, Gary Aboud, secretary of the activist group Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, said water is a human right, and successive governments have contributed to the current problem over time.

WASA said in a statement that amended water schedules will be released on its website, Facebook and Twitter pages on Friday.