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Climatologist Dr. Cedric Van Meerbeeck has warned that persisting dry conditions will have an impact on underground water levels.

DROUGHT CONDITIONS TO PERSIST

With 2019 being the driest year on record for this island since 1942, Barbadians are being warned drought-like conditions are expected to persist into the first six months of 2020.

Climatologist Dr. Cedric Van Meerbeeck said that while February to April are often the driest months of the year, the impact from last year’s dry spell would be felt more significantly during this time.

“Having been in this drought for so long, what we expect is that the impact on the ground is going to slowly start increasing. So you are talking about plants withering and also about fire risk increasing, and about crop yields being affected at some stage,” he highlighted, adding that models show it is going to be “very dry”.

Furthermore, Van Meerbeeck said the situation could be exacerbated with a possible late start to the wet season.

“We need to make sure that we monitor our resources and we need to make sure that we conserve as much as possible, because by the end of May we will expect to see quite an impact on our water levels,” he stressed during a press conference yesterday at the Caribbean Institute on Meteorology and Hydrology in Husbands, St. James.

Urging the public not to panic, Meteorologist Sabu Best said now is the time to prepare as best as possible.

“It is not Armageddon. It has happened before and we can pull together and get through this – through the resources of the BWA with their messages to the public and what to do; through the Ministry of Agriculture advising the farmers of the plots they can plant beforehand. That’s the way we can get through this,” he said.

And in his contribution, Barbados Water Authority’s Director of Engineering Charles Leslie gave the assurance that preparation is already in the works.

“We have done some upgrades at our desalination plant at Spring Garden, we have installed a number of booster stations – the last we installed was at Trents, St. James. We have another project going now on the eastern side of the island – the Vineyard project, where we are going to be bringing water from Groves in St Philip through Mount Pleasant into the Golden Ridge area. So what we have been doing is preparing for this,” he added.

Last year, 736.5 mm of rain was recorded at the airport, a mere 58 per cent of the average rainfall normally recorded annually. (JMB)

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