The release of water from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) into the Hope Canal on the East Coast continued yesterday and was going smoothly, Head of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), Lionel Wordsworth said.
Up to last evening the eight-door sluice was open and water was discharging into the Atlantic Ocean. Wordsworth told Stabroek News that unlike Saturday, the eight-door sluice would remain open until 10pm to discharge water. Water levels in the Hope Canal were at 56.5 GD (Georgetown Datum – a unit of measurement). “It’s going smoothly as we planned it so far,” the NDIA head said.
He disclosed that yesterday, all three doors of the head regulator were opened and water was entering the channel rapidly. He said that the testing would continue as they work to bring down water levels in the EDWC to 58 GD and below. “We would want it to be at full supply level at 57.5 (GD),” Wordsworth said. The height of the EDWC dam is 59 GD.
Early on Saturday, water levels in the conservancy were at 58.25 GD but this dropped to 58.15 GD by late Saturday as water was being discharged at several points. Yesterday, Wordsworth noted that significant amounts of rainfall were recorded at locations along the EDWC yesterday and up to last evening, water levels at Flagstaff were at 58.20 GD. Apart from the Hope Canal, water was being discharged from the EDWC into the Land of Canaan, Kofi, and Cunha canal sluices.
The testing would continue today as the NDIA also looks to lower water levels in the EDWC. Wordsworth has noted that all construction works at the Hope Canal are expected to be completed in August and the canal will be used as required during the current rainy season as the exercise would not significantly affect the remaining work.
The canal was one of the major projects of the 2006 Bharrat Jagdeo administration in the aftermath of the 2005 Great Flood. However, it has encountered severe delays and the life of the 2011 Donald Ramotar administration expired without it being commissioned.
Conceived following the Great Flood, the controversial project was designed to drain water from the EDWC into the Atlantic Ocean, thereby eliminating the flooding of the Mahaica Creek and its environs. It has missed many deadlines, including the original 18-month period for construction after it was commenced in February, 2011. The time frame was extended from June, 2013 to August, then to December, then to June 2014, then to September and again to December. In January of this year, former Cabinet Secretary Dr Roger Luncheon blamed cost overruns for the last missed deadline. He had said that most of the work was completed although at that time the eight-door sluice was still to be completed.
The Hope Canal Project has four components: the Northern Relief channel, which will be 10.3km in length from the sea defence embankment and extending to the EDWC; a high level outfall sluice; a conservancy head regulator; and a public bridge.
