Central Water and Sewerage Authority Response to Questions on the

Assessment of the INDC Implementation Status.

1. What is the present level of preparedness of the CWSA to manage the changing
climate as it relates to extreme meteorological events and drought?
The present level of preparedness of the CWSA to manage the changing climate as it relates
to extreme meteorological events, including droughts can be described as level two on a
scale from one to four, four being the highest. The CWSA is cognizant of the impacts of
climate change events and is working on existing platforms to address same.
2. What plans are in place for the CWSA to effectively manage the impacts of climate
change on their water supply and distribution systems?
 The CWSA has benefitted from a comprehensive emergency management
mechanism for several years. The structure includes several committees that are
responsible for the various aspects of disaster management. The committees are:
Damage Assessment; Transmission Mains Repair; Repair to Distribution Systems;
Sewerage; Sources & Water Treatment; Stores and Supplies; Communications;
Transportation, Vehicles and Equipment; Truck-Bourne Water; Securing, Repairs to
Structures & Other Facilities; Security; Solid Waste Management and Press Release.
There are also mitigation measures that are currently being implemented. These include.
a) Expansion of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System which
improves operational and management capabilities.
b) Increased network storage capacity.
c) Linking supply systems to ensure equitable distribution of water.
d) Digital line mapping and leak detection.
e) Improved treatment facilities for high turbidity.
f) Use of new materials for water supply mains and distribution networks.
g) Flood resilient designs at pipeline river crossings.

3. What is the level of the capacity of the Water Resources Unit to effectively monitor
and project climate change impacts? Is this presently being done?
The capacity of the National Water Resources Management Unit (NWRMU) to monitor
climate and thus climate change events is high. The NWRMU currently monitors
hydrometric, meteorological equipment and groundwater stations across SVG. This
includes; 26 rainguages, 10 water level sensors , 5 climate/weather stations and real time
telemetric stations for water level and rainfall.
Due to the relatively small time scale of operations of the NWRMU, formed between
2008 to 2009, the potential to project climate change events is minimal. However, earlier
this year , we acquired two very important software that greatly improves the ability to
store data, derive statistics and ensure overall data integrity and defensibility. Similarly,
the collaboration with the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH)
 contributes to the regional effort of advancing climate change science in the region and
internationally.
4. What is the status of the Water Safety Plan that was being developed for SVG?

The water safety plan that was developed for SVG has not been fully adopted; however,
there are measures in place to protect human health and ensure good, safe and reliable
water supply services.
5. What is the present impacts of climate change and variability on the water supply
and distribution systems and the CWSA's ability to provide a steady supply of
potable water?
The present impacts of climate change and variability on water supply and distribution
includes:
The quality and quantity of water at the source is being adversely affected by droughts
and flood events due to our dependence on surface water. The water available for
abstraction is notably reduced in the dry season and watershed damage has reduced
water quality at some sources.

Water supply pipelines traverse numerous water courses and are vulnerable during high
stream flow events. Similarly, the geography and topography of St Vincent increases the
vulnerability and exposure of our overall water supply infrastructure.

There is a potential for contamination within water distribution systems due to numerous
breakages that occur as a result of landslides, during extreme rainfall events and soil
shrinkage during droughts.