| Project Detail |
The G-CREWS project aims to comprehensively mainstream and implement climate resilience into Grenada’s water supply addressing two main risks and vulnerabilities – fresh water availability and disaster preparedness. It addresses the resilience of vulnerable people and communities in areas relating to operational risks associated with climate change. Water is a scarce resource in Grenada and climate change has already begun to aggravate the problem with increasing average temperature and more erratic rainfall. The health and well-being of Grenadians in the area of food security will be addressed with efficient irrigation systems, infrastructure and built environment. What caused the problem in the first place? Most of Grenada’s water supply is from surface water. Declining precipitation, in conjunction with rising average temperature and more erratic rainfall and continue to have the highest impact on water availability, because 90 % of water on Grenada’s mainland is collected from rainwater. Further saltwater intrusion in coastal ground aquifers due to high sea levels reduces the availability of freshwater in the future. An aging infrastructure also aids in this challenge especially in the area of non-revenue water. On average, water users demand approximately 36 imperial gallons (165 litres) per day per person. In extreme drought conditions like in the period 2009-2010, annual supply dropped to approximately 1.42 billion imperial gallons (6,455,000 m3) while demand rose to 2 billion imperial gallons (9,092,000 m3), creating a supply gap of more than 25 %. Under normal conditions, NAWASA produces approximately 2.41 billion imperial gallons of water per year (11,000,000 m3/year) – mainly rain-fed, however due to the impact of climate change, NAWASA was left with between 1.66 and 1.75 billion imperial gallons (7,546,000-7,955,000 m3) available for customers. Were there any barriers to addressing the problem? While annually, NAWASA undertakes small scales projects, and does the mandatory upgrades as required, inadequate commitment of public finances was a major barrier in addressing the challenges within the water sector. Systems that require expansion and refurbishment were targeted to run into millions of dollars, resources that have not been available under NAWASA’s capital investment portfolio. Additionally, NAWASA faced low revenue streams that hindered the company’s ability to finance long term investments in climate resilient infrastructure due to a tariff structure that presented rates being amongst the lowest in the region. NAWASA could not willingly amend the tariff as required, as tariff changes required cabinet approval. In addition, Grenada’s public debt constraints also limited the ability of the Central Government to adequately finance the water sector. Governance in the water sector has been another barrier to addressing the water supply challenges. Most notably here is the absence of a functioning state agency that regulates the islands Water Resources to ensure that the resources are being utilized in a safe and sustainable way. Another barrier identified was the need for improved demand management. Households and businesses like hotels and farms often use water inefficiently and neglect the potential for rainwater harvesting. This puts unnecessary pressure on the scarce water resources, in particular during the dry season, when most tourists visit Grenada and farms intensify irrigation to meet demand for their produce. There is a lack of storage, both in terms of raw water and treated water capacity. This results in supply interruptions throughout year and a poor level of service. The lack of interconnections between different areas of Grenada’s water distribution system leads to inflexibility between supply schemes, which prevents an optimal use of available water resources. This results in problems of water supply management in dealing with greater rainfall fluctuations and overall reduced precipitation as well as with extreme events. Who or what was involved in creating the problem - and who or what was impacted by the problem? Inadequate planning and investment in the water sector over successive decades, as the economy grew, provided the foundation for the problem that exists today. Climate change effects have worsened the matter and are projected to have a major impact on the water sector if the necessary interventions are not made. NAWASA’s lack of ability to maintain the water supply network efficiently to lessen non-revenue water exacerbated the situation affecting the entire population of 106,000 people, inclusive of users in agriculture, tourism and education (St. George’s University). Overall, this project supports the sector in transforming itself on multiple levels, which represents a nationwide ‘paradigm shift’ for Grenada’s overall resilience. The paradigm shift in Grenada’s water sector will include citizens and businesses as water users, and the public sector as provider of potable water and infrastructure. Behavioural changes will be triggered through new institutional structures to support appropriate water governance, regulation and awareness raising. |
