The Caribbean is commonly thought of as a paradise, an exotic getaway, but behind the images of serene beaches and lush hotel grounds lies a crisis its residents have never experienced before.
The Caribbean is in the grip of a water crisis, with governments warning that water shortages could become the new normal.
Every island in the region has experienced some sort of water shortage over the past five years: Trinidad, for example, is experiencing its worst drought in recent memory and residents are under water restrictions until at least the end of June 2024, with fines being imposed on anyone who breaks the rules.
Dominica, a naturally rich Caribbean island blessed with mountainous rainforests, has seen its freshwater resources drastically depleted and water shortages become frequent, while drought has affected the water system across the island of Grenada, known as the Spice Island.
Jamaica has also faced water restrictions and has had to resort to water cuts in recent years, with some areas only receiving water for a few hours a day. St. Vincent and St. Kitts have been forced to ration water. Barbados has imposed several water bans in recent years.
In fact, recent data shows that the Caribbean is one of the most water-stressed regions in the world.
I study the relationship between critical infrastructure and disasters, particularly in the Caribbean. Safe water is essential for all human activities and public health, which is why it is important to understand the root causes of water crises and find effective and affordable ways to improve water supply systems.
Why water demand is outstripping supply
Changing precipitation patterns and droughts are straining water supplies in the Caribbean, but demand for water also exceeds supply for a variety of reasons.
1. Rapid urbanization and industrialization
The Caribbean is one of the most rapidly urbanizing regions in the world. Approximately three-quarters of the region’s population lives in urban areas and the proportion is growing, putting increasing strain on public water systems.
At the same time, increasing industrialization and commercialization of agriculture is deteriorating water quality, in some cases encroaching into sensitive water catchments and affecting the water-holding capacity of soils.
These competing demands for limited freshwater have led to reduced river levels and reduced use of water from sensitive sources. In Dennery North, St. Lucia’s main farming community, water shortages have forced residents to fetch water for their homes and farms from rivers and other sources.
Unregulated pumping of groundwater could also exacerbate the problem: many islands depend on it.
For example, 90 percent of Barbados’ water supply comes from groundwater compared to 84 percent in Jamaica. However, increasing demand and changing annual rainfall patterns are impacting the ability of aquifers or groundwater to replenish. As a result, supply is not keeping up with demand. This is a major issue for Utila Island, located off the coast of Honduras, where the island’s current aquifer recharge rate is just 2.5 percent per year. By comparison, in Barbados, the recharge rate is 15 to 30 percent of annual rainfall.
2. The tourism industry consumes large amounts of water resources
It’s no secret that the Caribbean is a popular tourist destination and the tourism economy relies on large amounts of water.
Even during rationing, water is diverted first to hotels and tourist hotspots, leaving local residents without water for hours or days at a time and subject to fines for violating the restrictions.
Tourism not only increases water consumption but also increases the pollution of water resources. Building golf courses to attract more tourists further increases water demand and runoff due to tourism.
3. Weak governance of water infrastructure
Another problem facing the water system is weak governance, which means excessive losses of treated water before it reaches customers.
Well-performing water utilities typically lose less than 30 percent of their water (called non-revenue water). In the Caribbean, non-revenue water averages 46 percent, but can reach 75 percent.
The reasons range from a lack of proper management practices to inaccurate measurements, leaks and theft.
Climate change and extreme weather events exacerbate water shortages
Water systems with these issues could suffer even on good days: When extreme weather events like hurricanes or floods worsen, they can damage infrastructure, causing long power outages and expensive repairs.
The Caribbean is the second most disaster-prone region in the world. Islands are frequently hit by earthquakes, landslides, devastating hurricanes, and other destructive storms. As global temperatures and sea levels rise, the risk of extreme weather and storm surges that cause erosion, flooding, and saltwater pollution increases.
Three months after Hurricane Maria in 2017, more than 14% of the Caribbean population was still without potable water. Hurricane Dorian in 2019 caused $54 million in damages to Grand Bahama Utilities and the country’s Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC). A year after Dorian, the WSC was “still working to restore operations to pre-Hurricane Dorian levels.”
How Hybrid Rainwater Harvesting Can Help
Improving access to water in the Caribbean needs to address all these challenges. Improved governance and investment can reduce water losses through theft and leakage. Government and social pressure and tourist education can help reduce waste in hotels and resorts.
There are ways to increase water supplies, too. One way is for the islands to think more strategically about how they use something the region has relied on for centuries: rainwater collection.
Rainwater harvesting is the process of capturing rainwater that runs off your roof and storing it for future use, either as an alternative to irrigation or to treat the water for domestic use.
A large tank with an intake pipe at the top and tubes coming out from the bottom sits on a cement slab in the garden next to a fence lined with wildflowers.
Currently, rainwater collection is not managed as part of the island’s central water management system. Instead, each household is responsible for the costs of financing, building and maintaining their own system. Technical support can be difficult to find, and households experience seasonal fluctuations in water quantity and quality, making it difficult to identify risks to drinking water safety.
I believe that a managed hybrid water model that combines rainwater collection with a central water system can help scale up safe rainwater collection and solve local water issues.
Although it is a relatively new concept and integrating decentralized water sources can be complicated, such as requiring separate pipes, it has the potential to reduce water stress. Decentralized water sources, such as rainwater collection, groundwater, and recycled grey water, can act as backup sources during water shortages or provide water for non-potable purposes, such as toilet flushing and irrigation, reducing the demand for treated water.
Australian engineers are exploring the potential of hybrid water systems to rise to the challenge of providing safe, secure and sustainable water in the future.
Realizing Human Rights in the Islands
The World Health Organization has declared that access to an adequate, safe and reliable water supply is a fundamental human right and, to this end, water suppliers have a responsibility to provide sufficient drinking water.
Hybrid water systems have the potential to help ensure water safety and security for island communities and improve the resilience of water systems amid the human and environmental pressures facing the Caribbean region.
Farah Knibbs is an Assistant Professor of Emergency and Disaster Health Systems at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This article is republished from https://theconversation.com under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/thirsty-in-paradise-water-crises-are-a-growi….
