Having made tremendous investment in water for human consumption, irrigation, agriculture and other purposes, Minister Persaud said it is imperative to now examine ways to manage this precious resource, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
The minister made the remarks at a Caribbean Water Initiative (CARIWIN) Regional Seminar aimed at building institutional capacity in integrated water management.
The programme is being undertaken in Guyana, Grenada and Jamaica to improve existing capacity by involving local community organisations, water use associations and regional and national networks.
Persaud noted that CARIWIN is a unique project which addresses emerging issues affecting the strategic management of water.
“We are looking at utilising our resources in a sustainable manner so partnering with this programme would assist in dealing with critical issues because of our limited availability of expertise,” the Agriculture Minister said.
With Guyana one meter below sea level, it was noted that water management is even more critical since 80 percent of its population resides along the low coastal plain and 75 percent of its agricultural activities are conducted there.
Director of the CARIWIN Project at McGill University, Dr Chandra Madramootoo, said the perspectives on water management garnered from the three countries of study will provide a broad base of understanding in assessing the entire Caribbean.
The Caribbean Water Initiative is a six-year project with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) as its main partner. The programme focuses on decision making for integrated water resource management and data collection and analysis.
It promotes coordinated management of water, land and related resources without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems.
Dr Madramootoo pointed out that water management is important since it covers issues such as flood, wastage, drought, ecosystem degradation, loss of productivity and structural damage to property.
He observed that providing good quality water in rural areas that are far removed from centralised resources and conserving water as food security is vital to flood disaster preparedness.
Dr Madramootoo, who is experienced in water policy, stressed that given urban expansion, Guyana’s infrastructural design with its old engineering approaches is long outdated.
However, he disclosed that changes in the hydrologic and climate regime would pose challenges in building a community water strategy with weather-based risk assessment and insurance models.
Meanwhile, Principal of the CIMH, Dr David Farrell revealed that CARIWIN is in its third year and seeks to increase capacity of countries to deliver equitable and sustainable water.
Dr Farrell said the Caribbean is a good launching pad for the project to recognize its goals and objectives.
He also stressed that the aim is to make the water sector extremely vibrant and secure community involvement in water conservation, GINA added.
