by Linda Straker
- 33 new climate stations will be installed as part of Hydrometrics Network
- Installation began in October 2019 by SUTRON OTT
By February 2020 Grenada will have a fully functional Hydrometrics Network that will provide the relevant authorities with data which will among other things provide early signs that can promote public safety link directly to natural hazards such as floods.
“The development of an improved and effective hydro-meteorological monitoring system is designed to provide real-time or near real-time hydro-met data to support planning, engineering and disaster early warning activities to promote public safety and reduce vulnerability to potential disaster events, as well as improved hazard mitigation,” said a news release from the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Communications Department.
Trevor Thompson, Acting Chief Land Use Officer said that 33 new climate stations will be installed as part of the network. “That will comprise Synoptic Stations, Climate stations, Agro-Climate Stations, Hydrometric Stations, Hydrometric Stations with Pressure Transducers, Hydrometric Stations with Radars, Groundwater Stations, and Marine Stations or Tide Gauges,” he said.
The installation of the devices began in October 2019.
Through the project which is receiving support from the World Bank and the Climate Investment Fund, 55 rain gauges will be installed to support the automatic weather stations installed. “The stations will record data such as rainfall, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, evapotranspiration, soil temperature, leaf wetness, solar radiation, river discharge, tide levels, groundwater levels,” Thompson said.
Regional institutions whose work will require the use of the information gathered through the network will also have access to the information gathered through the monitoring system. The installation of the different hydrometric devices at various points throughout the country was contracted to the international company SUTRON OTT.
The ministries and agencies collaborating in this project are the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Ministry of Finance, Procurement Unit, Ministry of Climate Resilience, Environment, Forestry, Fisheries, Disaster Management and Information, Ministry of Finance – Physical Planning Unit, Ministry of Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs, Ministry of Tourism – National Parks, National Water and Sewage Authority, Maurice Bishop International Airport’s Meteorological Office and the National Disaster Management Agency.
How much is this going to cost Grenada? Who are already drowning in debt to world banks.