KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Sept. 17, 2014, CNS – The declining availability of fresh water on the Grenadine island of Bequia is a matter of grave concern for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Speaking at an OECS Climate Change seminar here, Jonathan Conly, Mission Director, USAID-Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean said “one of the threats from climate change has been identified as the declining availability of fresh water resulting from increased drought and saltwater intrusion due to sea level rise.”
He said USAID is funding a project to increase the water storage capacity for the reverse osmosis plant on Bequia and installation of distribution lines to facilitate access to and store clean water.
There are approximately 4,300 people living on Bequia.
On mainland St. Vincent Conly said that the focus is on water harvesting systems at six designated disaster shelters. He said this will help to minimise the adverse impacts of water shortages during climatic events such as droughts. This initiative is expected to be competed over the next four months.
“We know that despite significant investments in disaster risk reduction and response there is much that remains to be done,” Conly said.
“We see a growing need to rebuild damaged infrastructure with resilient structures through coordination across agencies and to better educate Caribbean citizens about climate change.”
He said the long term sustainable of the Caribbean region is of vital interest to the United States both economically and environmentally. He added that as close neighbours and regional partners, the US has a vested interest in contributing to a prosperous, stable and climate resilient future where the people and countries of the Caribbean continue to flourish.
CNS/ml/2014
