St Vincent and the Grenadines face water crisis amid no rain

St Vincent and the Grenadines: The residents across the twin island nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines are facing a severe water crisis brought on by climate change and drought situation on the island.

The Government is now rationing the water to make it available to every citizen and resident of the country. The primary reason behind this is that rivers and reservoirs are low in St Vincent while in the Grenadines, there are no streams, waters, or even springs, with the cisterns being empty, pushing the Member of Parliament for the Southern Grenadines Terrance Ollivierre to raise this issue in the Parliament.

Last week, a forecaster at St Vincent and the Grenadines Meteorological Services, Desiree Neverson-Jack said in the 72 hour outlook that the chances of major shower activity across the archipelago during the weekend is very low. He added that it is because the moisture content remains limited at both low as well as middle levels.

In addition to this, the forecaster also noted that Saharan dust intrusion will continue across the island chain and will limit shower activity while reducing visibility and air quality.

He noted that the days will continue to be hot and humid and the highest chance of a few rain showers increases from Sunday night with the forecast for Monday to be occasionally cloudy with a chance of few showers.

Also, on Friday, the CWSA – Central Water and Sewerage Authority, the municipal supplier of water, announced a water rationing schedule in large sections of St Vincent.

Communities supplied by the Dalaway water supply saw their supply turned off from 9 pm to 5 am, while customers in Montreal had no water from 8 pm to 5 am from 10 am to 2 pm.

The CWSA also said that the rationing schedule will continue until conditions improve at the source and also added that customers should ensure there is enough water stored for businesses and homes.