Background information
The project “Climate-Resilient Water Sector in Grenada – G-CREWS” supports the Grenadian Government in improving its Water Resources Management. An important instrument in this context is the establishment of a Water Resources Management Unit (WRMU).
The G-CREWS project is jointly financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) under its International Climate Initiative (IKI), and the Government of Grenada. Over 6 years (2019–2025), the Government of Grenada, the Grenada Development Bank and the National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) in partnership with the German Development Corporation (GIZ) will implement the project’s 5 components. The overall envisioned impact of the project is a better water supply services, especially in times of drought and after extreme weather events.
Under the project’s component 1 “Climate-Resilient Water Governance” the Water Resources Management Unit shall be established and empowered. The establishment of the Unit is in line with Grenada’s “National Water Policy (2020)”, the “National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (2017)” and the “Grenada Integrated Water Resources Management Plan (2019)”.
The WRMU will be responsible for managing Grenada’s water resources by:
- ensuring that the management of water resources are environmentally sustainable, economically efficient and equitably allocated for use
- improving the reliability of water availability
- making the national economy more resilient to climate change through well-established rules for the use of water
- improving water resources management which can contribute significantly to increased production and productivity within economic sectors.
The “Water Resources Management and Regulation Act, 202[]” will be the legal framework for the WRMU to operate. It is structured in 6 chapters.
- Introduction
- Water Resources Management And Administration
- Water Quantity And Water Quality Management
- Abstraction of Water
- Water And Waste Control Areas And Permits
- Appeals
The detailed final draft version of the Act can be found at https://climatefinance.gov.gd/embedded-pdf/water-resources-management-and-regulation-bill/
Stakeholders and the general public are asked to send their comments on the draft version of the “Water Resources Management and Regulation Act, 202[]” until 13 August 2022 in written form to the email address: [email protected]. The comments and answers will be published from 29 August 2022 under the homepage climatefinance.gov.gd and will be discussed in a virtual stakeholder consultation workshop on 15 September 2022.
Any other queries and comments can be addressed to the following persons and email addresses:
- Mr Brian Bonaparte, Project Coordinator G-CREWS, Ministry for Finance, Economic Development, Physical Development and Energy: [email protected]
- Ms Astrid Regler, Technical Advisor G-CREWS, Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH: [email protected]
Sufficient rain falls in Grenada. There is no reason why NAWASA can’t invest in more water storage. Especially in the south of the island.
The government should provide incentives for people to build cisterns and buy water tanks. The cost build and buy tanks should be subsidized. Every house in Grenada should have a tank or two to collect rain water.
This can reduced the dependence on NAWASA.
Probably Grenadians can learn a thing or two from folks from Carriacou.
Water is life.