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Kaieteur News
Wednesday December 12, 2018
GWI moving to safeguard reliable groundwater sources Plans are in motion for the development of a model that will guide the Guyana Water Incorporated [GWI] in its quest to better understand the physical characteristics of groundwater resource on the coast. Moreover, GWI has announced its collaboration, in this regard, with Deltares, an applied research institute in water and sub-surface environment from the Netherlands. This development comes even as the water company moves to implement measures to safeguard its groundwater sources. Groundwater represents more than 90 percent of the water supply on the coast and 70 percent countrywide. Moreover, groundwater, according to GWI, is the most reliable source of potable water for public use. In recognition of the importance of groundwater, the water company is moving to sustain its underground water source so as to ensure a continuous supply to citizens. GWI, in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is pursuing actions to prepare and implement a groundwater management plan. A move in this direction will be facilitated under the Water Supply and Sanitation Infrastructure Programme (SSIIP). This plan, according to information contained in a GWI advertisement published in this newspaper this past weekend, is aimed at assessing the sustainability of the groundwater supply in Guyana. The project, GWI noted, would therefore entail conducting geophysical logging of coastal wells in Regions Two, Three, Four Five, Six and 10 which would have seen customers within the project areas experiencing disruptions to their water supply for an average of five hours. A number of West Bank Demerara areas, including Patentia, Vive-La-Force, Free and Easy, Good Intent, Wales and Sisters Village, were scheduled to experience the disruption even as the project takes shape. But this is not the first time that the water company has sought to do such an assessment. While the cost of the current project was not revealed, back in 2009, GWI, along with the World Wildlife Fund [WWF], inked a $7.1 M agreement for a groundwater assessment. The agreement then was intended to facilitate preliminary assessment of a
section of the coastal aquifers within the Demerara Region. Another partner in the initiative then which was expected to run for an eightmonth period was the University of Guyana’s Faculty of Technology. It was revealed that the project was geared at assessing the physical properties of the groundwater reservoirs and ground water itself which would have helped in the formulation of a database. The expectation too was that the information within the database will increase GWI’s capacity to better understand changes occurring in the reservoirs and help to better manage the use of groundwater. While it is not clear whether a database was in fact put in place and is being accessed by GWI, it was proposed that the assessment would have entailed field testing to investigate key properties of the aquifers, such as the storage capacity and the ability of the aquifer to release water. As part of that project too, the water quality was also to be tested to assess the levels of heavy metals, chlorides and other substances, to give some insight into occurrence of contamination of the water supply. Through the partnership effort it was expected that there would have been a better understanding of sustainability of groundwater reservoirs and identify any threats to the aquifers functioning as a source of safe water for the public in the longer term. The results of the study, it was promised, would have provided invaluable information for water management, the promotion of sustainable use of the underground water and provide guidance for further comprehensive studies. The WWF had stated its commitment then, too, to conserve and protect natural resources and had 10 years prior been providing technical and financial support to various agencies engaged in natural resources management in Guyana. The grant agreement, moreover, had provided an opportunity for WWF to directly promote conservation of natural resources and also contribute to maintaining a healthy water supply which is a vital resource. It is just this objective that is being sought again as GWI looks to once again sustain suitable ground water source for the people of this nation.