Water Health Educator
Water Health Educator
Promoting advocacy for access to clean water
Issues: Caribbean
Water Scarcity of Caribbean
(with examples from Jamaica)
by Katherine Fite
In 2010, portions of the Caribbean experienced a prolonged drought and severe water shortages. The small island country of Jamaica was one Caribbean country hit exceptionally hard by the drought. By late March/ early April, Jamaica’s two main water reservoirs were down 50% from their normal levels. In Kingston; the nation’s capital and largest city, the National Water Commission limited water availability to a few hours a day and could not even guarantee water to some parts of the city. While the drought eventually abated, water availability concerns echoed through out the Caribbean.
Many Caribbean countries are unfortunately vulnerable to water scarcity and drought. One of the contributing factors to vulnerability is climate change. Over the next several decades, there are predicated to be several significant changes in temperature and precipitation. By 2050, temperature in the Caribbean is expected to increase at least 1-2° C and average rainfall will decrease by 7%. The increase in temperature will also elicit an increase in water loss through evaporation. In addition, there will a rise in sea levels.
This water scarcity will impact agriculture, tourism and even public health. Elevated sea levels along with lack of rainfall and increased temperature cause severe agricultural problems. Seawater can invade already frail crop systems. Most Caribbean countries rely heavily on agriculture for not only food but also economic growth. They also rely on substantial rainfalls during hurricane seasons to support agriculture and replenish the water supply. For example, Jamaica major supplier of drinking water for dams comes from water precipitation in the rainy season. In addition, rapid increases in populations creates even more of a demand on already strained water supply systems.
Another issue contributing to water vulnerability is the poor maintenance and condition of water distribution and the lack of water conservation and mitigation programs. For instance, Jamaica’s two major dam systems that provide water to most of the countries urban drinking water were built in the 1950’s. Those dams today cannot support the large city populations, tourism and the overall demand for water. Yet some countries are starting to look towards solutions and preparations for the worst possible scenarios.
In 2010, Jamaica developed a multi-million dollar mitigation and conservation program to increase water supply. These measures will hopefully increase the available water supply by 5 million gallons per day. Programs like this reduces a country’s vulnerability to water shortages and ensures that the country has the necessary resources to adapt to climate change. Though water scarcity is an impeding concern due to factors such as climate change, there are ways the Caribbean can adapt and reduce their chance of suffering from water shortages.
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Water and Sanitation Challenges in the Dominican Republic
By Nora Rideg
The Dominican Republic faces significant challenges in providing access to clean water and adequate sanitation, especially in rural areas. Although approximately 93% of Dominicans have access to water from the public network either inside or outside their homes, there is a wide urban-rural difference. In 2019, 96% of urban residents had access to this service, compared to only 76.8% of rural residents. Similarly, disparities exist in sanitation services, with only 54.4% of the population having access to safe sanitation facilities. Despite these statistics, significant challenges remain regarding water quality and sanitation infrastructure.
Water quality challenges are a major concern, with the country having only 2,430 cubic meters per capita, below the regional average. The country uses 44% of its freshwater resources, causing a lot of competition for surface water and overuse of groundwater. Coastal aquifers are overused, causing seawater intrusion, especially urban centers like Santo Domingo and Punta Cana. Moreover, rural areas often have poor water quality. As an example, 30% of Santo Domingo's water comes from coastal aquifers that are contaminated by farm chemicals and waste. Only 26.8% of wastewater is managed by sewer systems, and just 24.2% is treated before discharge into nearby water bodies, leading to severe microbiological contamination and limiting water use for drinking and recreation.
Although economic growth has improved access to water services, sanitation remains inadequate in rural regions. From 2009 to 2018, access to better water sources increased from 76.9% to 79.6%, but only 57.9% of rural areas had access in 2018 compared to 84.6% in cities leaving 31.4% of rural households reliant on unsafe water sources. Access to improved sanitation facilities increased from 91.4% to 96.6%, but rural areas lagged with 90.6% compared to 97.9% in urban zones. In 2018, 6.1% of the rural population lacked sanitation facilities, resulting in unsafe waste disposal in rivers, channels, or open defecation.
These issues have severe public health consequences, contributing to the spread of waterborne disease. Contaminated water sources and improper waste disposal create a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, viruses, and parasites, causing illnesses ranging from diarrhea and vomiting to more serious conditions like gastrointestinal parasites and cholera.
Gastrointestinal diseases are endemic in the Dominican Republic, impacting people’s health. Factors like malnutrition, contaminated weaning foods, poor hygiene, and inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure contribute to this disease. People suffer from chronic diarrhea, fatigue, dyspepsia, and anemia, significantly affecting children's growth, cognitive development, and overall well-being, leading to stunted growth, diminished intelligence, and long-term educational setbacks.
Cholera is another major waterborne disease due to the lack of safe drinking water. The Dominican Republic faces cholera outbreaks, with inadequate water supply, poor sanitation, and hygiene practices being major contributing factors. There were 1,472 suspected cholera cases reported, with 149 confirmed. The highest percentage of cases was recorded in the Santo Domingo Province at 22.1%, followed by La Cienaga Municipality in Barahona with 15.4%, and Santo Domingo Municipality in the Distrito Nacional with 12.8%.
Efforts to address these challenges include government programs through agencies like National Institute of Potable Water and Sewerage (INAPA) and the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewerage Corporation (CAASD) as well as international aid. USAID has invested over $80 million in the past decade to improve access to clean water, sanitation, and health services. Effective water management enhances food security, reduces poverty and malnutrition, and supports sustainable agricultural practices. Programs focusing on sound crop management, climate resilience, and watershed restoration have improved both water quality and quantity. These efforts also empower local communities to manage their resources, ensuring long-term sustainability.
References:
Childers, K. A. G., & Palmieri, J. R. (2014). Factors contributing to high prevalence of gastrointestinal parasites in children aged 2–15 years in the Punta Cana region of the Dominican Republic. Reports in Parasitology, 4, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.2147/RIP.S68817
Howell, L. (n.d.). Dominican Republic.
https://wateractionhub.org/geos/country/62/d/dominican-republic/
Interactive Country Fiches. (2022a). Water / Dominican Republic. https://dicf.unepgrid.ch/dominican-republic/water
Maher, D., & Zeledon, E. (2022, July 14). 10 years improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene in the Dominican Republic: News: Dominican Republic. U.S. Agency for International Development. https://www.usaid.gov/dominican-republic/news/10-years-improving-access-water-sanitation-and-hygiene-dominican-republic
PAHO. (2023, December 27). CHOLERA EPIDEMIC IN HAITI AND THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC.
The Democracy Docket. (2019, April 18). Fighting the water crisis in the Dominican Republic. https://sites.lib.jmu.edu/civic/2019/04/18/fighting-the-water-crisis-in-the-dominican-republic/
United Nations. Dominican Republic | Department of Economic and Social Affairs. https://sdgs.un.org/basic-page/dominican-republic-34123
The Cuban Water Crisis
By Jason Zheng
Waters in Cuba can be unsafe to drink because of the lack of chlorine supply that is needed to chlorinate water. Some residents, such as in Santiago de Cuba, can go as much as 20 days without water. Improperly chlorinated water are not safe to drink, and storing in their homes—this increases the risk of contamination. Cuba’s waters is managed by the hands of the public and private sectors, and as well the federal government of Cuba. These sectors will be assessed individually because each has a unique function that ensures the waters of Cuba are efficiently supplied and proper sanitized for humans use.
The National Water Resources Institute (Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraulicos, INRH) directs, executes and controls the government water resource activities. In addition the INRH is in charge of setting norms and regulates the flow of water. The INRH was created in 1989 and later restructured in 2000 to reflect a focus on business management. INRH now includes 4 enterprise groupings and 5 independent enterprises. All of these enterprises are state-owned enterprises within the socialist, centrally planned Cuban economic system. The following paragraph shows the steps policies have to take under the INRH.
When waters and sanitation policies are proposed it goes through a number of steps before it can finally be a rule. First the proposed policy goes through the Cabinet. The Ministries involved in the sector include the Ministry of Economy and Planning (investment planning), the Ministry of Health (monitoring water and wastewater qualities), the Ministry of Financing and Prices (setting of budget and tariffs) and the Ministry of Construction (erecting infrastructures in waters that will assist sanitation.
The service provision is part of the responsibility of the country’s 14 provinces and 140 municipalities except of the 12 municipalities in Habana. The total number of rural water systems in Cuba’s 3,220 rural water systems. Aguas de la Habana is a private organization that provides water and sanitation of 12 municipalities out of the 15 municipalities under the 25-year contract. In addition to maintaining the system, the company’s annual bill is US $9 million for about 115 million cubic meters of water delivered to the people.
The government of Cuba avoids the term “privatization” despite the involvement of two foreign private companies as key partners. On the bright side, water tariffs in Havana is 1 Peso (USD $0.04) per cubic meter, making this the lowest water tariff in Latin America. In hotels and embassies, it is USD $1 per cubic meter. However before the 1997, residential waters in Cuba was all free.