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Rain & New Initiatives Ease Drought

By Gail Reed and Julián Torres

Traditionally the good luck rite of showering fully clothed in the first rain of May has brought Cubans into the streets in droves, from youngsters to their grandparents. But the sky’s stingy offerings this May - a paltry 56% of the month’s average rainfall, following 18 months of severe drought - forced many to wait until June. The good news is that June rains hit 85% of their average by the last week of the month. The boost was enough to send reservoir levels to 36% of their combined capacity nationally, a modest turnaround on water depletion across the island that had reserves at a critical 27.1% the month before.

The rains, which were at or above traditionally high levels for June in several western provinces, also brought some reservoirs out of mothballs and returned water to the taps of at least 100,000 people in eastern Santiago de Cuba alone.

The more sobering news is that much still needs to be done - and much rain needs to fall - before Cuba’s worst drought since 1901 becomes history. In a country of 11.2 million inhabitants, World Food Program country representative Rosa Inés Antolín estimates that the drought has threatened to leave one of every six Cubans without access to water. Most seriously affected since 2003 are the eastern provinces of Las Tunas, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba, Granma and Guantánamo, as well as the central province of Camagüey. Of the country’s 235 reservoirs, 73 benefited from the June downpours, but another 17% are essentially dry. Nationally, rainfall for 2004 was only 952 millimeters, or just 69% of the historical average.

The severity of the drought has health officials on high alert, since increased health risks are inherent to fluctuations in water supply: drought presents challenges for hygiene and food security, while excessive rains and flooding can lead to an increase in water- and vector-borne diseases. In both cases, coordinated epidemiological surveillance of potential health risks is vital (see Training an Eye on Epidemics: Cuba’s National Health Surveillance System, this issue).

Government Response

Last year, the Cuban government created a high-level national commission to identify short, medium and long-term solutions to bring precious water to the population, livestock and agriculture; and to harness resources to implement these recommendations. As a result, US$20 million was invested in 2004, and another $160 million has now been earmarked for key projects.

In Holguín Province these include:

• The “transvase” project, to bring water from the largest reserve to replenish supplies in the driest zones. This means building a number of dams, plus 160 kilometers (km) of canals. As a result, in the first 2-½ years, 800 million cubic meters of water are expected to be shifted westward, with 320 million cubic meters moved annually thereafter.
• A 28-kilometer pipeline to link two reservoirs, sending their combined resources to local towns and resort areas.
• A 52.8-kilometer pipeline and three pumping stations already installed to alleviate shortages in various parts of the province.

Along with Holguín, similar projects are under way in Las Tunas, Camagüey and Havana City, with a total of US$60 million going to rehabilitate water pipelines in these four provinces. In Santiago de Cuba, US$10 million is being invested in refurbishing ailing aqueducts in this city where hydraulic engineers estimate that up to 40% of the water that enters seeps away in leakage. Cisterns are also projected for each of Santiago’s 800 multi-family dwellings. In the meantime, the city’s residents are on a distribution schedule that only brings them water every three to ten days.

In the short run in the most affected areas, 1.4 million people are receiving water from cistern trucks; and special food supplements have been allotted to the most vulnerable in five eastern provinces.

World Food Program Aid

On June 17, the World Food Program (WFP) announced emergency assistance for 773,000 of the people most seriously affected. The aid, beginning in July, contemplates food assistance for children under five, pregnant women and the elderly; donations of water tanks and buckets to families dependent on cistern truck deliveries; and spare parts for the trucks themselves. WFP will fund the first month of the US$3.7 million program, and Ms. Antolín said she expects further support from donors such as the European Union, Canada and Japan. Due to the U.S. embargo, Cuba cannot access funds from the World Bank or the Interamerican Development Bank, according to Jorge Luis Aspiola, President of the National Hydraulic Resources Institute (INRH).

The Institute has estimated losses from the drought so far at US$835 million, or approximately 2.5% of the country’s GDP, plus significant losses of crops and livestock.