Live
Audio Only
Below normal rainfall in 2015 meant that many islands in the eastern Caribbean, including Barbados and Saint Lucia, entered 2016 with worryingly low levels of water for their populations.
The region continues to grapple with drought conditions and water shortages, and Caribbean climate and meteorology experts say the islands will experience hotter and drier weather in the coming months.
The Saint Lucian government has unveiled a list of measures to deal with the heat and water shortages, including water rationing and desalination. Sustainable Development Minister James Fletcher says those measures will determine just how successfully Saint Lucia weathers the drought.
“We have the experience of last year’s drought and the year before and the year before and unfortunately this is something that we will have to live with for years to come. Our weather patterns are changing." he said. "All of the projections for climate change are projecting that we may have anywhere between 10 and 20 percent reduction in water availability as a result of the warming of our planet.”
One fishing village is counting its blessings as it unveils the eastern Caribbean’s first solar powered mobile desalination plant. The fishing community of Laborie, in the south of the island has always suffered from water woes. Now, with their plant in operation, residents are confident that they will not have to bear the brunt of the drought.
“We intend to use this project for turning the sea that is close to use into drinking water for times of crisis, when hurricanes and whatever that would cause a shortage of water, hurricanes, droughts and what have you,” said Chris Leon, of the Community’s Fishers and Consumers Cooperative.
Drought warnings have been issued for Barbados, Saint Lucia, the southern Leeward Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.
Cedric Van Meerbeeck, a climatologist at the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, says the drought is expected to last until May.
“We know that the situation that is ongoing now, the drought now, is largely the effect of an El Nino, which is the warming of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean, which in our region translates to less rain for many of our seasons,” he said.
Countries in the Caribbean are being urged to brace for floods when the drought conditions subside. According to the CIMH, the extended drought across the region creates concerns once the rains return in full force.
WATCH: St. Lucia Hopes to Become a Culture and Literary History Hub
Newsletter
