Govt to develop strategy to better manage water usage

Although Guyana is the land of many waters, the country needs to develop a modern water strategy that examines its various uses sustainably and practically, according to Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo on Wednesday.
With the massive infrastructural development in Guyana inclusive of widening roads which take up critical drainage channels, the country needs a modern water strategy to guarantee clean water.
In light of this, Jagdeo stated that the government in its climate change plan is developing a modern water management strategy.
“We have to step up our plans for the integrated water management strategy and we have a draft term of reference and a draft strategy already. So that is another area that is crucial where we look at water for navigation, water for drinking purposes, portable water, water for irrigation,” Jagdeo explained.
According to the Vice President, “Although we are a land of many waters, you have to ensure that you don’t have saline intrusion or an overuse of water from the reservoirs.”
The government had launched a study to determine whether the water captured at the Hope Canal facility can be treated to be used as a sustainable source to serve the East Coast Demerara (ECD) corridor.
It was noted there that this initiative to reuse the Hope Canal water is necessary, as Guyana confronts climate change as well as responds to the growing demands for more service connections.
In 2022, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat had stated that an investor had indicated an interest in exporting Guyana’s freshwater to countries that need the commodity.
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), although 70 per cent of the planet is covered in water, freshwater — which is used to drink, bathe, and irrigate farm fields — is incredibly rare.
The WWF said only 3 per cent of the world’s water is freshwater, and two-thirds of that is tucked away in frozen glaciers or is otherwise unavailable for use. As a result, some 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to water, and a total of 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year.
UNICEF has predicted that half of the world’s population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025.
Meanwhile, while noting that the country’s key vulnerability is flooding, Jagdeo said “We are developing a capacity to be able to address larger volumes of water faster because the intensity of rainfall has changed, our storage areas are being reduced because as we widen roads, there’s less storage sometimes.”
“Therefore, our capacity to pump the water out and not wait on gravity flow has to increase,” he added, referring to the government’s investments in the various pump stations across the country as well as the rehabilitation and building of new sluices and the move to build more canals like the Hope Canal in other areas of the country.
“All of this will not only have an impact on the cultivation areas but the dwelling areas or villages or city and other areas,” he noted.