The Dominican Republic is currently amid a serious dry spell, and perhaps even a drought. While it is usually considered normal for there to be little rain during Lent, the weather has been unusually dry. As a result, the water supplies of the two major population centers of the country, Greater Santo Domingo and the region of Santiago de los Caballeros and the central Cibao are facing serious water shortages affecting consumers and farmers.
El Caribe reports that despite the recent rains, the level of the Tavera-Bao reservoir in the Cibao has shown no significant increases, and even worse, last Friday, the water level decreased by 5 cm. While the Tavera-Bao complex has a design capacity of 173 million cubic meters of water, erosion and sedimentation have greatly reduced that number. Even the communities surrounding the reservoir are complaining of a lack of water. Plans have been announced more than once to re-forest the entire watershed, but latest reports do not indicate that this has started.
Meanwhile, in Puerto Plata, which is not served by a dam and reservoir system, the local water supply agency has announced a series of rationing measures. The Puerto Plata Water and Sewer Corporation (Coraaplata) has initiated a program to repair over 10,000 broken or leaky pipes and valves throughout the city.
In Greater Santo Domingo, the situation is similar and barrios are hurting. The Santo Domingo water agency (CAASD) reported that their daily water supply was 346.62 million gallons, but this is an 18 million gallon reduction from the regular supply, which has been precarious for many decades.
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El Caribe
El Caribe
20 March 2023