Water security and services in the Caribbean There is a clear understanding at national and regional levels that insufficient political attention has been paid to ensuring water security in the Caribbean.1 Furthermore, there are growing concerns over the ability of governments to ensure the good management and provision of water without jeopardising economic growth and the maintenance of social well-being. Of concern are: the impacts of climate change, tariffs and the financial sustainability of service provision; the need to upgrade existing water infrastructure and improve the efficiency of resource use; the prevention of pollution of water sources; and the management of resources and services in the face of natural hazards. This article provides an outline of water resources in the Caribbean focusing predominantly on the major factors influencing water security; the state of water resources; and service provision and factors affecting supply and demand in the region. The potential impact of future changes, such as demographics, climate change and economics, are explored. Background Water security is seen increasingly as an integral part of human security and central to the achievement of other rights, such as the right to life, education, health and adequate housing. Thus, access to enough safe water at an affordable price is necessary for a person to lead a healthy, dignified and productive life. This needs to be balanced against the need to maintain the health of ecosystems that provide water (Watkins et al., 2006). The Global Water Partnership has defined a water secure world as one that ‘integrates a concern for the intrinsic value of water together with its full range of uses for human survival and wellbeing … harnesses water’s productive power and minimises its destructive force … where every person has enough safe, affordable water to lead a clean, healthy and productive life,’ and ‘where communities are protected from floods, droughts, landslides, erosion and water-borne diseases’ (GWP, 2012). Considering the various definitions of water security, of which the above is but one, there are common elements that provide a framework within which to examine the Caribbean situation. Figure 1 provides a proposed listing of drivers that may be associated with water security, though it does not necessarily capture the overlapping nature of some. Adequacy of resources Climate change projections for the Caribbean have indicated increases in temperature of between 0.7°C and 4°C depending on the emission scenario chosen (Campbell et al., 2010). In one scenario used in recent modelling work2 (Hall et al 2012) a 2.5–3°C rise in temperatures is projected for the northern and southern Caribbean, and a 2–2.5°C rise for the eastern Caribbean for the period 2075–99. Further work by Hall et al. projects a decrease in annual precipitation of between ten and 30 per cent by 2080, and for the months of the wet season a 30 per cent decrease in monthly precipitation for the northern and 20 per cent for the eastern Caribbean is projected. However, over Belize and Guyana increases of between 20 and 30 per cent during the wet season are projected. The projected significant reduction in wet season rainfall across most of the insular Caribbean is particularly problematic and suggests that there is the potential for a major reduction in freshwater flows and groundwater recharge. Anecdotal evidence from Dominica appears to suggest that this may already have begun, with decreases in stream flows having been observed. The projections are particularly troubling given that there are already serious gaps between available supply and demand in many Caribbean countries.3 Belize and Guyana, however, are faced with a different set of problems to those of the insular Caribbean. These countries have more than adequate water resources but are more prone to the effects of drought, flooding and, in the case of Belize, hurricane activity. The situation across the region is Commonwealth Governance Handbook 2014/15 119 Adrian C. Cashman Figure 1. Water security: The fours A’s Adequacy Accessibility Assurance Affordability Climate change Water demands Water management Public policy Resource availability Water policies and legislation Hydrological variability and shocks Financing Demographics Services provision and coverage Economic instruments Economic development Service management Tariffs Abbreviated from Cashman, A., 2014. ‘Water security and services in the Caribbean’. Water 2014, 6 (5), pp. 1187–1203. The author would like to thank the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) for funding the original research and the resulting IADB technical note.
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