Dry season, water conservation and bush fires

Tue Mar 19, 2013

With the dry season already negatively affecting three of the larger water sources of the Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA), and with a proliferation of bush fires threatening life and property in our communities, Vincentians are taking notice of the dry season, or at least, we should be.{{more}}

Hopefully, this increased awareness will translate into the general populace taking water conservation measures all year round, including identifying and addressing leaks and wastage in homes, at our business places and at public facilities.

This week is “water week”, and the Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) is hosting a series of activities leading up to World Water Day on March 22. Most of this week’s programmes and activities of the CWSA are geared towards raising awareness of environmental conservation, including water conservation.

It is opportune that water week falls smack in the middle of the dry season; residents of the mainland will hopefully pay more attention to the messages being delivered by officials than they usually do. Blessed as we are on the mainland, with an abundance of clean, potable water for most of the year, our reliable water supply is usually taken for granted, with some, especially usually users of public facilities, wasting the precious resource.

When one hears of reports such as that issued recently by the Fire Department, we wonder if the message for the need to conserve water, and of the danger of bush fires is getting to those who really need to hear it.

The Fire Department has said that so far for the year, 73 fires have been reported; 15 more than the whole of 2012! The sad thing is the police believe that almost all of the bush fires so far for the year have been deliberately set. In January and February there were 20 bush fires, with many more this month.

These bush fires not only endanger life and property, but they force our Fire Department to use hundreds of gallons of precious water in fighting these fires. Fire is not something that should be played with. The persons setting such fires may find it amusing to have our firefighters running back and forth outing fires, but they may be playing with their own lives.