Where there is water, there is life

When it rains it pours and when it doesn’t it is even worse.

The Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) announced yesterday that the country has arrived at a crisis situation in terms of our water supply. They have also, as expected, detailed their mitigation measures including water rationing and the expectation of strict water conservation measures from the public.

Although low rainfall and drought are not unusual for this time of the year, according to information from the CWSA, for the six-month period since October last year, the CWSA has recorded the lowest rainfall accumulation in over a decade, at three of its major sources.

This state of affairs could not have come at a worst time.

St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), like much of the rest of the world, is in the throes of the war against COVID-19. Among the measures recommended by health authorities to slow or stop the spread of the virus is frequent and thorough hand washing. For that, we need water!

Blessed as we are on the mainland, with an abundance of clean, potable water for most of the year, our reliable water supply is usually taken for granted, with some, especially usually users of public facilities, wasting the precious resource.

It is at times of drought, like these, that we appreciate what we have and contemplate how disastrous it could be should we have to go for days without water.

But thankfully, this is unlikely to happen, as the CWSA says it has taken measures to ensure that water can be supplied to every area of the country on a daily basis. But they are requesting our help to make that possible.

They are asking that we immediately begin to store excess water, when it is available to cater for periods of outage; desist from washing of vehicles, watering of lawns & plants and power washing. We should also report leaks and incidents of abuse and wastage.

Now more than ever, the expression ‘where there is water, there is life’, has meaning. Water sustains, preserves, and saves life. Let us do everything in our power to conserve it.