Water Security in Trinidad

The class at Navet Dam WASA treatment facility

As part of my masters program at the University of Waterloo in Masters of Development Practice, on the course of Water Security, I was sent down to Trinidad and Tobago to do research and understand more of the subject area. To track my understanding and what I've learned through the research, a journal for each day was produced. These are my thoughts as I go through my days in Trinidad and Tobago. The University of West Indies (UWI) helped host our trip. Naturally, we were discussing issues with the professors and various students.

The different sites we had explored included Waste and Sewage Authority (WASA) treatment plant, aquaponics facility, University of West Indies, tourism association, and the Department of Natural Resource in the forestry sector. We spent 3 days in Trinidad and 2 days in Tobago.

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Feb 15 - Predeparture Trinidad and Tobago

The pre departure, and the first, log. The expectations for this trip is simply just trying to beat the heat the first day and then dive right into seeing, learning and experiencing the country. While gazing over the academic part of the program, it came to my attention that I knew very little about Trinidad and water security other than the little research I have done. I’m hoping to gain insightful knowledge of water issues and measures the country is taking to implement to improve their water supply. Though, what issues remain a mystery to me, however, I can speculate non-potable water, lack of access and infrastructure to supply the population. These issues could be caused by several factors including lack of government funding resulting in poor infrastructure; poor management of consumption of water, especially ground water, reducing its reservoirs and not allowing time for it to replenish, resulting in invading rising sea

Pre-deparutre Trinidad Tobago

Feb 15 - Predeparture Trinidad and Tobago

The pre departure, and the first, log. The expectations for this trip is simply just trying to beat the heat the first day and then dive right into seeing, learning and experiencing the country. While gazing over the academic part of the program, it came to my attention that I knew very little about Trinidad and water security other than the little research I have done. I’m hoping to gain insightful knowledge of water issues and measures the country is taking to implement to improve their water supply. Though, what issues remain a mystery to me, however, I can speculate non-potable water, lack of access and infrastructure to supply the population. These issues could be caused by several factors including lack of government funding resulting in poor infrastructure; poor management of consumption of water, especially ground water, reducing its reservoirs and not allowing time for it to replenish, resulting in invading rising sea water levels and salinating the ground water rendering the water non-potable; industries not being checked for compliance of environmental pollution causing chemicals to leak into the soil and subsequently into the drinking water.

Giving the itinerary a glance, I hope meeting with the organizations and individuals will give me more knowledge. One in particular I’m looking forward to is the Village Plaza with the aquaponic system. I’ve been wanting to build my own for some time now and would love to see how different systems are set up compared to the designs I had in mind. Hopefully I can learn also what species of fish are most resilient to cold climate (even though Trinidad is a hot weather area), what kind of design (sump tank, interval submersion, etc) would be best, what kind of media can sustain growing best (clay, float boards, etc) and how to control and balance the Ph levels every time the crops and or fish are harvested. Learning aquaponics could help with implementing an alternative source of agricultural practice as I understand it can help reduce water with irrigation while producing a high yield. This would be ideal for countries that are suffering from severe water stress and still be able to produce food, perhaps a country like Trinidad.

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Day 1 - Trinidad - Carnival!

Feb 17 - Carnival!

First day in Trinidad. As suspected, trying to beat the heat during carnival. On the bus ride into downtown, I notice that the city works on water storage tanks, something that is familiar with me through my travels. This can imply that water can easily cut out and therefore require a back up storage of water for the household, as from experience. Other observations were the WASA facilities on the ride down and there seems to be sewage treatment plant in the heart of the city. Not too far down is a Dasani plant for filtering bottling water. It is possible there is a deal struck between WASA and Dasani for bottling water.

I bought huge bottles of water, local Blue Waters (not Dasani), for drinking purposes while wandering Carnival. Even though with a water security issue, access to it seems to be fine during Carnival. Looking around, the sidewalks are constructed higher than I’d expect them to implying high water flooding in those poorly drained areas. Water is easily purchased meaning those who have access to water seem to get it regularly and do not have water insecurity.

I immediately spot the flooding in the streets around the carnival area  implying poor water drainage, as it hasn’t rained and there is high algae bloom in the water. My speculation is that this water has been sitting for quite some time. There are also gutters on the side of the road that are deliberately built in for wet season. This was learnt in lecture with our guest lecture Nuna. I suspect she went during wet season as the gutters are mainly empty and dried. Though, there was garbage piling up as she had mentioned.

Water seems to be running fine in the dorms and showers. Shower time!

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Day 2 - Trinidad - WASA treatment facility

Feb 18 - WASA treatment facility

First real visit out to the Waste and Sewage Authority (WASA). This gave us the first real impression of the water security issues on the island. While talking to the WHO Compliance Officer at WASA, it was noted that a bit more than 50% of the population has access to water 24/7. This was quite staggering to me considering how much water was used during carnival. I suppose Port of Spain would be better suited for receiving water as it is the capital of Trinidad. Further surprises was that the tap water is 100% potable as it follows the WHO guidelines of water. I might attempt my stomach’s fate at the tap water seeing as I wouldn’t want to purchase anymore water.

Back to the WASA facility, the water level in their lake reservoir has dropped an inch since Carnival was running. This is a considerable amount seeing that this was in a southern and more remote part of Trinidad, not Port of Spain. The lessons that was learnt during their most water stressed time allowed them to manage the consumption of water more appropriately by controlling the distribution of water. This is contrary to my expectations before coming in as I thought the consumption rate was poorly manage. This does not seem to be the case as they have foresight to curb the demand so that the reservoir and aquifers still have time to replenish itself. Even if it means the population goes without water sometimes. Though, Trinidad does work on a water tank storage at every household so there is some buffer in case there is no water.

Afterwards, we visited the University of West Indies (UWI) and discussed the issues of tourism taking an impact on agriculture. As tourism increases, food for these tourists must be met and results in more production of agriculture. The catch 22 is that this could further drain the water supply even more. There should be a strategy to increase agricultural production while maintaining water security. This to me is where I’m most excited about aquaponics as a potential solution to help in water and food security. We will see tomorrow after our visit to the aquaponic station. An idea would be to increase food production with aquaponic systems to help with maintaining the water supply with the increase of tourists.

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Day 3 - Trinidad - Aquaoponics

Feb 19 - Day 3 - Aquaponics

Finally my most anticipated visit of the trip, the aquaponics facility. Seeing a smaller scale aquaponic system provides a better realistic goal to building one as the previous one I have seen before was in Cape Town and was a large system meant to sustain a restaurant. The most I learnt from this visit is seeing another type of set up and filtering process. This can help solve both food and water security because of the lack of water loss in the whole aquaponic system. This system uses less than 10% of water compared to traditional agriculture. Though, it cannot grow crops like roots and tubulars as they require soil to be grown in and not water or clay media. Regardless, this can help answer some questions of increased agricultural production but with a goal of sustaining water security as the issue was raised from the previous day.

Afterwards we went to the UWI farm field and did a quick tour seeing how the farm is irrigated from the wells they had dug. They did not consider the impacts of pesticides and herbicides on the soil absorption into the aquifers. Eventually the pollution will filter into the aquifers and pollute their own supply of drinking water. This reinforced my speculation of agricultural run offs from the first post with the potential of chemicals seeping into the groundwater supply. Very surprising that they would not consider this issue as a challenge to sustainable water security. Other investors are also coming into “develop” this farm including the Chinese. Assumptions with a reciprocal deal on return on investment will occur. In hindsight, because they are funded to do research and their goal is monetary gain, they will receive money to do any research including ones that are detrimental to the soil and groundwater and not taking in the cost of externalities.

Going back to UWI. Discussion of water security. Not a lot of focus on the topic of mangroves as of yet. Discussion of coastal regions and rising salt water levels in the aquifers still need to be addressed for my group project. Having exchanged contacts with the professors at UWI will hopefully provide more insight.

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Day 4 - Tobago - Department of Natrual Resources

Feb 20 - Day 4 - Tobago Department of Natural Resources

At the Botanical Gardens with the Department of Natural Resources, Forestry management sector, it seems the presentation should've been done on the first day of breaking down the issues of water security and how it affects different sectors and key players. The presentation addressed many key issues surrounding water security including climate change, which is a focus of my groups research project. However, there was not much information about lowering water in aquifers and more salination in the groundwater or the effects of the removal of mangroves. They said it wasn’t much of a pressing issue at the moment so it seems there was not much focus regarding it.

An introduction to water management that I have not considered was the metered water, which will help with the management of water supply because the individuals and household will decrease usage as they see their bill for the water. But it cannot happen too quickly as people will revolt and needs a gradual implementation. This could play into an integral part of management of the water supply once it is implemented as more conscious water conservation measures will be taken by the household.

Dams Reservoir

Then, together, we took a trip to WASA, Hillsborough dam. There was an interesting conversation between WASA and forestry management regarding the sludge from the dam as its just dumped. That pollution will seep into the aquifers. It felt very corporate with a lot of public relations to try and boost their campaign of water. They didn’t have a straight answer of “no” but instead lots of ideas that have already been thought of to continue increasing supply. A lot of the information had been supplied by the Navet dam. Though the new information, such as the detailed WHO guidelines, a more indepth look at the treatment of the water, the filling of the reservoir, cleaning the dam, operating the dam, and other supply of water other than the dam were topics that were not addressed at Navet.

Control valves

In line with Navet dam, the  discussion of the management of water during stressed times was elaborated. They start controlling the water supply during dry season as the water reservoir depletes so there is a schedule to store water into the reservoirs at home. Once those reservoirs are filled, it is up to the individuals to manage their own water. As the water reservoir depletes more at WASA, there will be more strict management of water as they can control the valves that feed into the neighbourhood. This kind of control allows the aquifers and lakes to be replenished, instead of having it drained completely, which will not be sustainable.

Asphalt Quarry

An observation made on the way up the hill, there was an asphalt quarry. The river upstream was nice and clean with a WASA treatment plant to help treat and distribute the water. Just downstream was the asphalt quarry and from there is just polluted water which does not get cleaned or treated. WASA does not want to clean the water downstream because it cost too much to clean that water. There needs to have policies onto those kind of industries to keep the water clean and make the companies pay.

This introduces economics that have been overlooked the whole trip, aside from a brief discussion of government subsidies and the serviced population paying.To fund the cleaning of the water, someone needs to pay. A Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) could be implemented. Simon Davids from the Forestry management said that the U.S has PES implemented and it is beneficial because polluters pay.

Another observation made as we travelled through central Tobago, we were pointed out more results of the agriculture degradation. We  saw the burning which degrades vegetation and negatively impacts the infiltration of water into the soil and produces more runoff and less replenishment of the groundwater supply. This was pointed out by the forestry management.

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Feb 23 - Post trip reflection

Feb 23 - Post trip reflection

The post trip reflection journal. Overall, this trip has been a fantastic understanding of what water issue is like looking at other countries other than Canada. It helped put in perspective the economic, governance and management of water security. The biggest takeaway has been the agricultural use of water. First at UWI’s research field and the seemingly absolute neglect put toward protecting it’s local groundwater supply from chemical seepage is inconceivable, especially coming from a university. Secondly from driving from the southern part of Tobago to the northern part, seeing all the slashing and burning. Though out of the control of the forestry management, those farmers can be better educated on the effects of burning of fields that destroy the infiltration process into the ground. Third, the aquaponic system provides solutions to the agricultural challenges posed by water insecurity. Not only does it use less than 10% of water compared to traditional agriculture, it can be easily constructed anywhere at any scale. This could help reduce the water stress while increasing local agricultural production for the increase tourism that will demand more food, decreasing the reliance on imported food.

Other points that have struck me other than the agriculture is the funding of water supply and the distribution process. The fact that WASA is heavily subsidized and charges very little for the water does not encourage conservation from the served population. The only metered water are from the hotels which have applied water conservation measures. Should there be an increase in rates for water, it should not be at such a drastic level resulting in where the poor cannot sustain their livelihoods because they are still left with a water insecurity issue where they cannot access water because of cost. What is left are heavy industries that use water flat rate and get to release it back into not cleaned or filtered. This struck me as we passed the asphalt quarry on the way up the Hillsborough Dam in Tobago. If the heavy industries are also metered for their water and additionally incorporated a PES system where by the water coming back out should meet the WHO guidelines, that could also keep the industries in check and also provide more funding for supporting the water infrastructures.

However, aside from these issues, a further challenge currently is communication between the different branches of the Department of Natural Resource, Forestry Management sector, WASA and the “think tanks” at UWI. The lack of communication is evident in the previous day’s journal where there are disputed facts of food production and the meeting of WASA and Forestry Management representatives. Having these actors on a same level could encourage a much better water security policy where there will be additional funding and also better governance of the water supply.

Having taken this trip, my speculations written in the first journal were inaccurate. The biggest one being the lack of government funding resulting in poor management. Infact, WASA is heavily funded by the government and they do have a strictly regulated policy on water quality, distribution, and management. The management included the scheduling of water supply during the dry season so that the reservoirs do not run out and the groundwater does not acidify. However, complete access to everyone 24/7 supply is still to be achieved. Industries not being checked for compliance was also inaccurate as there is no compliance from them or as far as the research has gone. Free polluting water flows down the river without any barrier or attempt to treat the water. To conclude, this trip has an insightful journey into water security and issues that affect different actors, policy decisions, governance and management. 

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Feb 21 - Day 5 - Tobago - Tourism Association

Feb 21 - Day 5 - Tobago - Tourism Association

A hotel in Tobago

Talking with Christopher at the Tourism association, we learnt that there is “no” water issue because hotels get the priority from WASA and so they don’t “feel” the lack of water supply running through  the country. This is one point of view compared to the other visits we have had where the others have been saying there is a security issue. However, Christopher is still an advocate of water conservation. Some measures implemented are more efficient shower heads, adopting farmers who grow food for the restaurant and WASA has been metering the water on the hotels.

Water metering helps hotels see how much water is being consumed as the cost is reflective of that. The more expensive the water, the more conservation will happen. Currently, it’s only hotels that do the metered water, not individuals. This is inline with Simon from the previous day talking about metering water. This will help with the funding of clean water supply as mentioned in yesterday’s journal, there has not been enough to address the funding shortfall. WASA currently runs at a loss and needs to increase the rates and meter the water to help alleviate the government subsidies. However, this needs to be done in accordance of ratio to the income of the population, as some might not be able to afford basic water and would put a strain onto their livelihoods. Metering hotels and large industries while putting a PES in place would help distribute who-gets-billed-more more equally.

Pigeon Point Resort

As villas and hotels are built, roads are built with water supply and pipes underneath them. The risk is that this prevents rainfall absorption to replenish the aquifers when there are more villas and hotels built. And when the pipes burst, they have to dig up the entire road causing a lot of economical challenges in which they cannot afford. This is inline with the discussions with the Compliance Officer at Navet Dam with water not accounted for because there are leaks in the system.

This also perpetuates the water insecurity issue as we have noted on one of the first days with the discussion of increased tourism at UWI. This increase demands more agricultural production, which creates more water stress. It is struck with lack of water replenishment because of the new roads creating a barrier to infiltration creating a shortage on water. However with Christopher at the the Forestry Management, he has noted that there has been a decrease in food production and an increase in food imports. This discrepancy of facts shows the inconsistency between the institutions that study or enforce sustainable water practices, as Christopher had mentioned there is lack of communication between all.

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Water security research in Trinidad and Tobago

It's been a while since my last post. School has been incredibly hectic. However, much is being learned and not enough time to absorb it. A lot of information and courses and information intersect with each other which is incredibly helpful to getting a whole picture of how things are all interrelated. My program is a huge advocate of experiential learning, immersive learning, in the field, which, after teaching English overseas I can see the benefits of it. In fact, it's probably the best way to learn.

University of Waterloo had sent me and my class down to Trinidad Tobago to research and study the water insecurity issues on the island. There are several different aspects to supplying and accessing potable water. Surprisingly, they are very strict with their water and is WHO (World Health Organization) compliant, ie; you can drink straight from the tap... which I did.

One of the chaperones on this trip came with to help organize and document the trip from a 3rd party perspective had written an article about the trip. Reproduced with permission, this summarizes the whole trip.

Author: Uzair Jaffer

In the midst of the dry season in Trinidad and Tobago, seventeen graduate students from the Master of Development Practice (MDP) program engaged themselves in understanding the real-life challenges of water management on the islands.