...We have the skills to protect our water quality - We only need the will.

March 22 is World Water Day.  On this day, people all over the world are asked to think about how important clean, fresh water is to our lives, and how we can make sure there will always be enough of it for all of us.

This year’s theme is “Clean water for a healthy world”, and the event has an impressive list of sponsors.   These include environmental, social and economic development branches of the UN, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and public/private organizations such as International Water Association, World Wide Fund for Nature and World Water Council.

The concerns of Water Day 2010 hit very close to home.  The news of the last year has been full of stories about Jamaican communities with water supply problems – no water, not enough water, bad water.  Just last weekend, there were reports that about 30% of Jamaican households don’t have their own piped-in water supply, and at least 9% don’t have any access to treated drinking water.

Even worse, some water trucks that deliver to household tanks are filling up at polluted sources.  There were more than 12,000 cases of water-borne disease among children in January and February this year, compared to about 6,800 in the same period last year.

In part, these problems come from bad luck – a long period with less than normal rainfall.
This means that both natural supplies – rivers and wells – and man-made reservoirs are lower than usual, while demands, especially for agriculture, are rising.

But there’s some bad management involved too.  Poor planning of new developments allowed natural water systems to be destroyed or polluted, and increased the demand for water services without providing either new supply or enough carrying capacity.  Decades of poor (or no) maintenance have left both city and country water systems choked and leaking, machinery struggling and reservoirs filled with mud.

The Water Day campaign includes three steps to improve water quality.  The first is prevention – Don’t let the fresh water we have get dirty or poisoned.  For Jamaica, this means taking better care of our rivers and gullies.  We can’t keep using them as garbage dumps, car washes, sewage systems or sand mines.  It also means better farming practice – more use of mulch and compost, better livestock management, less chemical fertilizer and tree-cutting.

The second step is treatment – clean up used water, and use it again if possible.  Our tourism sector is doing its part.  Sewage treatment has become a requirement in new development plans.  Many resorts also have water-saving measures in place, catching rainwater and processing greywater (from laundry and showers) to use for irrigation.

The third step is restoration.  Natural systems – wetlands, flood plains, grass and trees – are very efficient water cleaners.  They also have a lot of other values, as air cleaners, flood controllers, and homes for birds, animals and fish.  We need to save what’s left, and plant more.

None of these steps is very complicated.  They can all save us money.  And they will make Jamaica a safer, healthier, more beautiful place.