As the country remains in the grip of El Nino-inspired dry weather, the government is engaged in relief measures in six regions and pumping of water from the Shelter Belt in Georgetown has been reduced by 50%.
The November-December rainy season didn’t deliver sufficient precipitation and as predicted by El Nino watchers, the dry weather has continued into January and is projected to persist until the middle of this year. El Nino is the warm phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation and is linked with a band of warm ocean water that develops in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific. In some parts of South America it leads to heavy rain but in Guyana’s case dry conditions prevail.
The chairmen of Regions 2, 5 and 6 were reported by Stabroek News on Sunday as calling on the government to do more to relieve the water stress on their farmers.
Yesterday, the Govern-ment Information Agency (GINA) released a list of interventions that are being made and said that the administration is monitoring the level of the water in the conservancies and canals in the main agricultural regions.
GINA said that as of yesterday, the water level in the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) was 52.65 Georgetown Datum (GD), while the Boerasirie Conservancy was 58.15 GD. The Mahaica, Mahaicony, Abary Water Conservancy’s level was 58.17 GD.
In Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), GINA said that low water levels have been reported in the Manikuru (Main Canal) and Tapakuma, Golden Fleece, Ituribisi, and Mainstay Water Conservancies. All four of the Dawa pumps are operable and GINA said that farmers have been advised against starting new cultivation due to the lack of water.
The Dawa pump station is now operating 12 more hours daily, pumping water from a tributary of the Pomeroon River into the Tapakuma Water Conservancy. However, there are some challenges in controlling the pumping of the water into farmlands as GINA said that farmers are not adhering to the irrigation schedule. As such, rangers have been placed on the ground to ensure the observing of the schedule.
Region Two Chairman Devanand Ramdatt had told Stabroek News last week that rice farmers who had not yet sown were being advised against doing so because of the water shortage.
GINA added that officials are currently experiencing some difficulties delivering fuel to other pump stations because of the condition of the access dam. Thus far the NDIA has provided 23,000 litres of fuel for the operation of the Dawa pump station.
In Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), the water level is low in the Boerasirie Water Conservancy; however, GINA said that the situation is under control. A monitoring committee has been set up with the Regional Democratic Council (RDC), the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), the Water Users Association (WUA), the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), the Rice Producers Association (RPA), the Boerasirie Water Conservancy Commission, and the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo) to address the situation.
The NDIA has set up a pump at Waramina (Five-Door sluice) to pump water from the Bonasika River into the conservancy. Fuel is being provided by the NDIA to the pump at Five-Door and transported by the pontoon in the conservancy.
In Region Four (Demerara/Mahaica), GINA reported that there is insufficient water at Belfield, Cove and John, Hope/Dochfour, and Cane Grove. However, it said that the NDIA is pumping water at Nancy in the EDWC and supplying the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI).
Georgetown
Meanwhile in George-town, all sluices are operable, however, at GWI’s shelterbelt location, Vlissengen Road, pumping has been reduced by more than 50 percent.
It has also been reported that canals need rehabilitation and to facilitate this, machines are being moved from Mahaica to Dochfour and then to Hope to excavate approximately 1000 rods of irrigation canals.
A pump has also been moved from Whim to Nancy in the EDWC to supply GWI with water while the NDIA will soon relocate a drainage pump to Cane Grove to re-circulate water.
In Region Five, GINA said that one of Mora Point’s irrigation pumps is currently not working and the authorities are repairing it. The drainage pump at Pine Ground is being used to supply irrigation water while another pump is operating at the main canal supplying the Blairmont area.
The NDIA has supplied 1350 litres of fuel for the Pine Ground pump.
The pump from Sussex Street has meanwhile been relocated to Kuliserabo Creek to help with irrigation for rice and cash crop farmers in Mahaica and Mahaicony. A pump will be set up there shortly as it is currently being serviced.
Excavation is being done at Broomhall, so that farmers have better access to water. Other canals were cleaned including the Dantzig/Columbia, Fairfield irrigation canals.
Perth/Biaboo
Excavation of the Kuliserabo Creek is being done to enable water to flow to the Perth/Biaboo canal to help with irrigation for rice/cash crop farmers. Water is being pumped at Mora Point, from the Mahaicony River into farmlands.
A pump was rehabilitated and installed at Blairmont water path to aid GuySuCo, GINA’s report said. The excavator at Pine Ground is being moved to Kuliserabo Creek to speed up creek cleaning.
The NDIA/MMA is also trying to link Pine Ground to the MARDS scheme to provide irrigation.
At Crabwood Creek in Region Six (East Berbice/Corentyne), GINA said that there is inadequate water as one of the two pumps is not functioning. This will be fixed shortly. Pumps have been relocated from Eversham and Storage and deployed to Sandaka and Link Canal to relieve the Crabwood Creek area. Both pumps broke down over the weekend. One has since been repaired, while the other will soon be functional.
In West Watooka, Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) inspections were done by NDIA engineers and recommendations were made to set up a pump to provide water from the Demerara River into the canals, as well as an excavator to deepen canals. A pump will be moved from Herstelling, East Bank Demerara to enable this process.
The dry weather has underlined a key paradox for Guyana. In recent years the country has spent much money and resources on pumping fresh water into the sea to escape flooding. This year a different dilemma has been presented.
