BWA taking steps to cushion impact of climate change

Barbadians are being warned that warmer temperatures and other effects of climate change have the potential to make the already water-scarce island even more vulnerable, and therefore proper water management must be practiced.

At the same time, Water Quality Technologist with the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) Nicole Austin gave the assurance that the water utility company has been adapting to the various water and sanitation challenges and would continue to upgrade its infrastructure as it puts mitigating strategies in place.

Austin said research has shown that Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean can expect rising sea levels of about three millimetres per year, and an increase in the intensity and frequency of storms and hurricanes.

She also warned of warmer global temperatures, an increase in heavy precipitation (rainfall) in northern islands, reduced precipitation but increased evaporation in Barbados and others in the south.

Pointing out that climate change was already having an impact on Barbados’ groundwater supply, she said water level measurement data from one of the island’s major abstraction bore holes for the period April 2016 to September 2019 showed a decrease in rainfall.

“Where we have a decrease in rainfall you are going to have a decline in ground water availability as you can see this continued towards the end of 2019, which ended up being the worse year for rainfall in Barbados. You can see this decline coming along. We have low reservoir levels and there is less rainwater harvesting around the island, even the empowerments for agriculture and everybody is now turning to drinking water to use,” she said.

“[With] warmer temperature across the island, we at the Barbados Water Authority are trying to do our best to give this water balance to make sure that we can give all the sectors the water that they need – tourism, agriculture, schools – we want to make sure that there is water there for them,” she said.

Pointing to other potential impacts from climate change, Austin warned that with warmer temperatures an increase in bush fires should be expected. However, lower water levels would affect the ability of fire fighters to put out those fires.

“With the lack of water the fire service may just be able to respond to the fire but they might not be able to use the amount of water they would like to use,” she said.

Also explaining how rising temperatures and drought conditions impact potable water supply, Austin said the already concerning situation could easily be compounded by frequent shut-offs due to low reservoir levels.

“That is a stress because we are already water scarce in the country,” said Austin.

She said the BWA was therefore engaged in constant monitoring to make sure that the aquifers are not depleted by taking too much water from the ground and possibly in some areas cause sink holes.

“We are doing our water balance to give you what you want without being detrimental,” she added.

Austin said it was also necessary for residents to increase their water storage and management capacity, adding that community water tanks will continue to play a critical role.

The BWA currently has over 20 ground water wells, two spring sources, two desalination plants, which together provide some 34 million gallons of potable water per day. The water distribution network currently stands at about 2,500 kilometres.

The authority has two waste-water treatment plants and ten lift stations. That network is roughly 70 kilometres.

In addition to amendments to the Barbados Water Authority Act, Government has been investing in water and sanitation infrastructure upgrades.

Austin said the BWA was in the process of developing a master plan as it takes several steps toward building a more resilient infrastructure.

“We are developing our climate change adaptation water and waste water management master plan with a consultancy firm out of the UK. That is when they look at all of our assets, all of our risks and all the vulnerabilities based on the natural disasters that we expect,” said Austin.

She also pointed to the BWA’s drought management plan, saying the utility company was prepared to go beyond prohibition notices if necessary. Austin said the BWA continues to carry out critical training of staff and it was increasing its efficiency through greater photovoltaic use. She also revealed that the BWA was also improving its ground water monitoring network.

With the official start of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season just under three weeks away, she gave the assurance that the BWA continued to review its emergency response plans and meet with relevant stakeholders.

The BWA official on Thursday addressed a national climate change and health-focused symposium under the theme Building One-Health Partnerships for Adaptation to Climate Change.

The symposium formed part of the European Union funded five-year climate change and health leadership fellowship project, which is aimed at building and strengthening climate resilient health systems and human capacity in the Caribbean through partnerships. marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb