{"id":247664,"date":"2026-02-17T06:58:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/?p=247664"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:32:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:32:56","slug":"dominican-academy-of-sciences-warns-of-toxic-algae-crisis-at-hatillo-dam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/2026\/02\/17\/dominican-academy-of-sciences-warns-of-toxic-algae-crisis-at-hatillo-dam\/","title":{"rendered":"Dominican Academy of Sciences warns of toxic algae crisis at Hatillo Dam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic (ACRD) issued an urgent environmental alert on Monday, 16 February 2026 warning of severe degradation and toxic cyanobacteria blooms in the Hatillo Dam, the largest freshwater reservoir in the insular Caribbean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through its Commission for Natural Resources and Environment, the Academy reported a “drastic change” in water quality and coloration. The reservoir is currently blanketed by a thick, pasty green layer caused by a massive proliferation of Microcystis, a genus of cyanobacteria that poses a direct threat to the ecosystem and the populations relying on the basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Located in Cotu\u00ed, S\u00e1nchez Ram\u00edrez province, the Hatillo Dam is a cornerstone of Dominican national security. Sanchez Ramirez is the location of the Barrick Gold mining corporation with its large tailing reservoir. The company is building a second tailing reservoir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Completed in 1984 with a capacity of 710 million cubic meters, the Hatillo Dam serves three critical functions:
\u2022 Flood control: Protecting the lower Yuna River basin.
\u2022 Agriculture: Irrigating over 2,200 hectares of farmland vital for food security.
\u2022 Energy: Generating 8 megawatts of clean hydroelectric power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Academy emphasized that the contamination does not stay confined to the reservoir. Because the Yuna River flows into Saman\u00e1 Bay, the poor water quality threatens the mangroves of the Bajo Yuna, local fisheries, and the country\u2019s world-renowned humpback whale-watching season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Root causes of the decay
The ACRD identified a “cyclical” pattern of contamination driven by an excess of nutrients. Experts pointed to four primary catalysts for the current crisis:
\u2022 Agrochemical runoff: Intensive use of fertilizers in upstream farming.
\u2022 Organic waste: High levels of organic matter being washed into the reservoir.
\u2022 Climate factors: Reduced water levels during prolonged droughts.
\u2022 Mining activity: Discharges from mining operations in the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call for immediate intervention
Despite the dam\u2019s location within the Aniana Vargas National Park, a protected area, the Academy notes that environmental regulations are not being sufficiently met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission has called for the immediate formation of a multidisciplinary task force to map the zone of influence and inventory all nearby industrial and agricultural activities. Their proposal includes a permanent monitoring system and a “characterization” of the physical and chemical pollutants currently present in the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The protection of the Hatillo Dam is a national priority,” the ACRD stated, urging the government to move beyond temporary fixes toward a “structural and sustained” intervention to safeguard the nation\u2019s most significant freshwater asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario <\/a>
Hoy <\/a>
Academy of Sciences <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

17 February 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic (ACRD) issued an urgent environmental alert on Monday, 16 February 2026 warning of severe degradation and toxic cyanobacteria blooms in the Hatillo Dam, the largest freshwater reservoir in the insular Caribbean. Through its Commission for Natural Resources and Environment, the Academy reported a “drastic change” in water … <\/p>\n

Read more\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[340,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247664"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247664"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247675,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247664\/revisions\/247675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dr1.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}