Since 2005, more than $4.1B has been spent on drainage and irrigation in Region Five to control flooding of the Mahaicony and Mahaica Creek areas caused by the controlled release of water from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC).
According to Minister of Agriculture Dr Leslie Ramsammy, in a written response to a question posed in the National Assembly by APNU MP Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, the funds were spent on revetment works, structural and earthen works, construction of sluices as well as on empoldering and embankment works in the areas.
Ramsammy stated that of the total, $1.9B was spent on the construction of the Northern Relief Channel of the EDWC, while $308M was spent on the rehabilitation of structures and embankment works at the conservancy.
Ramsammy also said that by the end of the project, activities regarding the project will result in an increased drainage capacity of the EDWC to the Demerara River by 35%. He stated that the government, through the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), will direct additional investments geared at strengthening drainage and irrigation, based on the engineering foundation to be developed under the pre-investment studies for engineering design of works.
Roopnaraine also questioned why the Mahaica River continues to be incapable of draining any significant volume of water over the past seven years. In response, Ramsammy noted that the question was based on the assumption that the volume of water drained from the Mahaica River somehow changed.
He said that based on advice provided to the ministry from scientific studies and by engineers and experts in the area, the current and recent capability of the Mahaica River remains scientifically unchanged from its natural drainage capacity, which was established since the late 1950s.
He said that hydrographic surveys carried out over the years, dating as far back as 1994, have all corroborated the largely unchanged physical character of the Mahaica River.
Ramsammy said that the studies have cautioned that the drainage load has increased in relation to the drainage time because of the high intensity rainfall and, in addition, areas which previously served as holding areas have recently been empoldered and water from those areas is being pumped into the river.
Also, based on the studies carried out, he explained that the Mahaica Creek does not have a sloping channel with lower gradient at its mouth and such longitudinal profile creates constrictions that restrict the flow of water into the Atlantic Ocean. “This physical characteristic is characteristic of the river and not something new in the last seven years,” he added.
Ramsammy stated too that a review of the engineering surveys conducted in the Mahaica River by Venezuela in 2006 and in 2009, by CEMCO and SRKN engineering in association with Mott McDonald, respectively, have concluded that there may be constriction (limitations in flow of water due to obstacles) between the villages of Belmont, Mahaica and Mosquito Hall, which retains higher water levels upstream of the former in the Mahaica River.
He added that another study indicated that a sand bar exists across the river at its mouth, in the vicinity of Mosquito Hall, and this restricts the outflow of water during low tide and results in higher water levels being retained upstream at the community.
He said that it is known that the Mahaica River is deeper in the vicinity of Little Biaboo and he noted that there is a reverse gradient which is and indication that sediments are washed into the river from the sea on a rising tide. The river, he further noted, is to be desilted this year.
Over the past seven years, communities in the vicinity of the Mahaica Creek and the Mahaicony Creek have felt the brunt of flooding whenever water is released from the EDWC during heavy and persistent rainfall. The residents living in those areas have counted numerous losses at their farmlands and have continually called on the government to find a solution to the problem. The government has said that the construction of the Northern Relief Channel of the EDWC will provide an alternative for the controlled release of water from the conservancy.
