Dear Editor,
In a letter to SN on September 20 (‘Water balance studies were done for the Skeldon modernization project’), Mr Mohabir Raghunath stated that, “sugarcane in Guyana can hardly be considered an irrigated crop.” The quantity of water needed for irrigating sugarcane is estimated at about 3 feet per acre per annum. In addition, the sugar estates need a considerable volume of water for transportation purposes and flood fallowing of their fields, which is no small percentage of total water needs contrary to what the writer suggested. Further, it would be of public interest if the writer could publish the studies which state, “that using modern techniques to irrigate sugar cane in Guyana do not increase the yield and quantity of the sugar produced and hence the investment in such equipment cannot be justified.”
Analysis of water requirements of rice and sugar production from the Canje River based on long-term records of rainfall and river flow indicate that an adequate supply (prior to the Skeldon Estate expansion) would be available for the cultivated areas with a probability of 80% (four years out of five) during the critical dry months of February, March, September, October and November each year, these being the months when high crop water use coincides with climatic extremes of high temperatures, wind and low humidity. Unfortunately, over the years supplemental flows into the Canje River via the Torani Canal have been reduced due to siltation and other blockages of the canal. Hence less water is available from the Canje River today for crop production than it was several years ago. Therefore, contrary to the writer’s views, rainfall is not available throughout the year to irrigate rice and sugar.
It appears from Mr Raghunath’s letter that GuySuCo has constructed two conservancies at the back of Skeldon Estate to provide irrigation for its increased acreage of sugar cultivation. Evidently this will result in less water flowing into the Canje River to irrigate existing cultivation and exacerbate the problem of salt-water intrusion up the Canje River during periods of low flow, thereby adversely affecting rice and sugar production.
The unregulated use of water from the Canje River and its dire consequences for existing crop production indicate an urgent need for better control of the resource by improved management and supervision within the irrigated areas, and for all users to work for better cooperation and the sharing of responsibilities as well as the water resources.
Water resources in Guyana are owned by the state and vested in the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI) which merged the Guyana Water Authority, created in 1972, with the Georgetown Sewerage and Water Commissioners. The writer may wish to comment as to whether GuySuCo had the approval and authority from GWI to construct reservoirs in the upper reaches of the Canje River and also the input of the Drainage and Irrigation Board on these developments as they affect its users at Black Bush Polder, Block III and other rice-growing areas served by its pumping stations on the Canje River.
Yours faithfully,
Charles Sohan
