FLOOD WATCH ON !

Guyana Chronicle

CHAIRMAN of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) Mr. Ravi Narine yesterday reported a half-inch drop in the water level in the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) as authorities continued a close flood watch in the current rainy season. In an invited comment, he said that at 16:30h yesterday, there was a half-inch drop in the water level in the EDWC, with the average level varying from 57.8 inches to about 55.2 inches in various sections of the conservancy. He said the average water level throughout the conservancy yesterday afternoon was 56.87 inches. Narine also assured that “at this point in time, there is no need to discharge water from the conservancy through the Maduni”, adding that all water from the conservancy continues to be discharged through the Demerara River.

President Bharrat Jagdeo on Monday expressed concern at the alarming rise in the water level in the conservancy, and called on all Guyanese to keep a very close watch and take all necessary flood precautions during this rainy season. The President noted that at the start of the rainy season, water in the conservancy was kept at a very low level – somewhere around 55 inches (GD) - since heavy rainfall was expected. The water level by Monday had risen to 58GD and President Jagdeo told reporters this level in the conservancy is “starting to worry us significantly”. We were expecting heavy rainfall so we kept the conservancy level very low but we were criticised for keeping the conservancy so low; people said that the dam would cave in if we keep the conservancy so low - somewhere around 55 GD (but) we are already at 58 GD and that is getting to a level where it is starting to worry us significantly,” the President said.

Narine yesterday assured that “round-the-clock” inspection of the conservancy dam was ongoing by more than 100 persons, and the integrity of the dam seemed to be “intact”. He also noted that some 20,000 sandbags had been deployed and stockpiled as part of a contingency plan to shore up the dam in case of any emergency. Narine also pointed out that the water level is still high in the upper reaches of the Mahaica and Mahaicony areas, especially Moraikabai. A technical team flew over the dam Monday and President Jagdeo said a “close watch” was being kept over the conservancy.

Persistent rains that began last week and the forecast for continued heavy downpours have triggered a close flood watch along the coast, and Mr. Jagdeo indicated that this state of heightened alertness has further increased with the rise in the water level at the conservancy.
We have experienced unusual amounts of rainfall over the past several days (and) for the past ten days or so, we have an aggregate amount - when you look at all the stations in the hinterland and here on the coast - of about 100 inches of rainfall,” he said. We are very concerned about the possibility of flooding in many areas; we have already seen, in many of the coastal villages, accumulation of water,” he said. However, this water seems to be running off as the tide changes and we have most of the kokers operational, so we have had a fairly decent flow-off from the coastal villages with the exception of some persistently problematic areas, ” the President said. We have already started experiencing difficulties in the Mahaica, Mahaicony and Abary areas…where the water levels have increased significantly in the rivers as the water comes from the backlands running to the coast. And this is leading to some problems of flooding in some of these riverain areas.” We expect this to worsen, frankly speaking, because the rain is still falling in the hinterland areas and that water has to find its way out to the Atlantic,” he said.

President Jagdeo said he has since asked the Civil Defence Commission (CDC) to go out into the affected communities and prepare a report for him so that the government can decide if other types of interventions are needed, outside of the Drainage and Irrigation (D&I) interventions that were made. I would urge people to take all necessary precautions because with that volume of water flowing down the rivers, it could overtop some of the embankments that we have along the sides of the rivers.” While acknowledging that he is pleased with the empoldering work that was done, President Jagdeo said even this might not be enough if the water levels continue to rise. He assured that committed efforts are being made to manage the accumulation of water and keep the system working effectively. President Jagdeo noted that while the coast has been fairly dry and there has been a fairly decent flow-off of water from the coastal villages, his “biggest worry” at the moment is the hinterland areas. We have a significant amount of rain falling to the south of the city and while many people say they are not seeing the rains…that is because the rain is falling in the deep hinterland areas.” Unfortunately, that water has to run down through the rivers down to the sea and has to pass through many riverain areas. So what we are experiencing now is some difficulties in places like Lethem where the Takutu River is swollen and in Moraikabai were there are problems with high water,” the President said.

He also urged persons to refrain from tampering with flood-control structures, as was done with some parts of the Crown Dam.