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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
In This Issue
! WANTED: A new business model for water! ! From CBWMP to CAWASA - The Transition ! Secretariat News ! CAWASA has a long 2011 To Do list ! Why World Water Day? ! Ban Ki Moon World Water Day Message 2011 ! World Water Facts ! Guyana to spend $1 Billion to improve urban water distribution ! What price [bottled] water? ! We only miss the water when ! Wise Water Tips ! Tomas taught again that A stitch in time
Dear Reader! CAWASA is pleased to launch its quarterly newsletter. We invite contributions to this publication to highlight your utilitys achievements and challenges during the period. Please forward your contribution to info@cawasa.org
PO Box RB2293 Gros Islet, St. Lucia Tel:(758)458-0601 Fax:(758)458-0191 Email:info@cawasa.org www.cawasa.org
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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
CAWASA Executive Director Victor Poyotte has extensive experience in management of both water and electricity regional utility bodies.
The government owned utilities are forced to supply water to consumers at below the cost of production because of the failure of the minister or cabinet to grant tariff increases on a timely basis. On average most utilities receive tariff increases between 150-20 years with regards to regulation, all the region's water utilities, one way or another, depend on ministerial dictates or Cabinet fiat. None are regulated by Independent Commissions (except in St. Lucia, where provision is made in legislation passed in 2005). However, the National Water Commission as it is called is yet to be operationalized. With most CAWASA member utilities falling into the category of government regulated entities and their increasing difficulties due to current operational constraints, Mr Poyotte recommends that utilities and governments look at a new business model that will better serve each island or territory for the future. He specifically recommends creation of a joint venture comprising Government, public agencies and corporations, regional and international investors, as well as small local investors. In that way, he added, the small man will see he also has a stake in the utility and this type of public utility, with private sector participation, will provide the vehicle to take the utilities forward into new directions in these new times. The CAWASA Executive Director says the model he advocates already exists and is working. We're not talking about reinventing the wheel here. St. Lucia's lone electric utility company is operating successfully with this type of structure, he says. This type of mixed leadership would include participation by a varied combination of entities, ranging from individuals and credit unions, insurance companies, banks and other local financial institutions, to regional and international investors, he said.
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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
Under the proposed system, the CAWASA Executive Director said, responsibility for the process of regulation of the water utilities will also be removed from the realm of the Executive (Government only) to that of an Independent Commission. He said a competent independent approach to regulation is necessary, because the pace of delivery and progress can most times be dictated, not by operational efficiency or financial viability, but by likely electoral or other consequences of much-needed actions. To effect these changes, said Mr Poyotte, the governments and utilities should look again at the water sector policies, and legislative instruments and regulations and seriously review them all. The CAWASA Executive Director's proposed new business model involves a threefold approach: establish control of the resource through creation of a Water Resource Management Agency, issue licenses to water utilities to deliver the service to citizens, and regulate the supply through an independent commission.
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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
The Transition
The Caribbean Water & Sewerage Association Inc. (CAWASA), is a regional association of water utilities in the Caribbean. Incorporated in St Lucia in May 2010, CAWASA has become the successor to the Caribbean Basin Water Management Programme Inc (CBWMP Inc) -- which was itself incorporated in Barbados in 1996 as the successor to Caribbean Basin Water Management Project, financed by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Ten water utilities were the original members of CBWMP: Anguilla Water Department, Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA), Barbados Water Authority (BWA), BVI Water & Sewerage Department (WSD), Dominica Water & Sewerage Company Limited (DOWASCO), Montserrat Water Authority (MWA), Nevis Water Department (NWD), St. Lucia Water & Sewerage Authority (WASA), St. Vincent & the Grenadines Central Water & Sewerage Authority (CWSA), Public Works Department of Turks & Caicos (PWD). They now all belong to the CAWASA. At the Annual General Meeting held in Jamaica from October 1-2, 1999, the CBWMP Board adopted a Resolution to accept four other member water utilities -- Belize, Cayman Islands, Grenada and St Kitts. In October 2001, the 14 member water utilities were reduced by one when the Belize Water Authority was privatised and the new company, the Belize Water Services, did not retain membership. The evolution of CAWASA followed internal assessments and reflection by the leadership of the Caribbean water utilities of the evolving changes in the dynamics of the regional water and sanitation sector and the need for adjustments to meet the challenges of continuity for the sector as a whole. The year 2011 will be CAWASA's first and all member utilities share the Secretariat's will to make it as successful as can be.
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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
Secretariat News
CAWASA collaborates with World Bank and the OECS Secretariat on Integrated Water Resources Management Policy Forum
The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), with support from the World Bank, has been developing a regional initiative entitled OECS Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) Policy Forum. This initiative is a two-part workshop series intended to create a forum for technical practitioners and decision makers to address current regional trends of land-use and watershed management that pose a threat to long-term, economic development goals and climate change adaptation. The first workshop was held at the Bay Gardens Hotel, Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, from 9-10 March 2011, under the theme: How do technical practitioners bridge the gap between data and policy making? One of the main objectives of the workshop was to provide participants with an opportunity to learn to effectively communicate policy recommendations for integrated water resources management by performing stakeholder consultations and examining current/future data needs and assessment tools to support this responsibility. The workshop was coordinated by Bradley Lyon, Consultant, Latin America and the Caribbean region of the World Bank, while Peter Murray, Programme Officer of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) provided assistance. Some 51 persons representing 9 member-states of the OECS sub-region attended the workshop. Among the countries represented were Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts, Nevis, St Lucia and St. Vincent & the Grenadines. Crispin dAuvergne, Chief Sustainable Development in the Division of Sustainable Development, Ministry of Physical Development & Environment in St. Lucia, delivered the keynote address. The main presenters included Jeff Arnold of the United States Department of Agriculture, John Joseph of WASCO, St Lucia, Trevor Thompson of the Grenada Ministry of Agriculture, Adrian Trotman of the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), Victor Poyotte, Executive Director of the Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association (CAWASA), Shanta King and Laverne Walker of the Division of Sustainable Development in the Ministry of Physical Development and Environment, Jerry Meier, Environmental Specialist of the World Bank, Vasantha Chase, Consultant for Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR). In the second workshop, decision and policymakers will examine the effects of current policies and economic sectors such as tourism and agriculture, which directly contribute to watershed degradation and loss of freshwater production. Additionally, participants will identify and introduce country-specific needs, both technical and policyoriented, in order to overcome the challenges of sustainable water resources management in the region.
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Secretariat News
CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
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Secretariat News
CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
The Executive Director also conducted Supervisory Management (2) training at the National Water & Sewerage Authority (NAWASA) at the NAWASA Training Room in Grenada on March 2nd and 3rd 2011. Some 26 supervisors participated in the Grenada training.
The congress and GWOPA General Assembly were held in conjunction with the World Water Day celebration on 22nd March. It brought together operators, alliance members and partners from around the world, for this first major global Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs) event. One of the objectives of the congress was to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on WOPs, develop new partnerships between operators and generally raise the profile of the practice.
The congress was a major opportunity for WOPs practitioners and supporters to exchange with others from around the world.
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Secretariat News
CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
Participants at the 2nd Consortium on Water Meeting held in St Lucia January 27-29, 2011
A joint Work Programme incorporating Members planned activities for 2011 was partially developed along seven thematic areas: Governance, Training & Capacity Building, Public Education and Outreach, Technical Assistance, Research & Development, Knowledge Management Systems and Resource Mobilization. The Work Programme will be finalised upon further discussions among the group. Participating agencies/organizations included: Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI), Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI). Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Inc (CAWASA), Caribbean WaterNet, Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA), Global Environment Facility Integrating Watershed & Coastal Areas Management (GEF-IWCAM Project), Global Water Partnership Caribbean (GWP-C), Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), University of Guyana, University of Suriname, University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat. A follow-up meeting of the CARICOM Consortium on Water is scheduled for the latter part of 2011. The Secretariat was represented by CAWASAs Programme Officer, Suzanne Joseph.
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Secretariat News
CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
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GEF-IWCAM Support for Water Operators' Conference: The Integrated Watershed & Coastal Areas Management Project, through its Project Coordinator, is collaborating with the CAWASA Secretariat to host a course in Wastewater Reuse in conjunction with the 2011 Water Operators Conference. This training will involve the installation of a treatment facility at an IWCAM Demonstration site to be completed in Antigua later in the year and whose effluent is intended for re-use. A regional Wastewater Specialist has been identified by the Secretariat to design and conduct the wastewater reuse training course. Funding for the Centre of Excellence: Plans by the Secretariat to establish a first ever Centre of Excellence in Saint Lucia is moving ahead steadily. Theobalds Consulting has completed preliminary drawings for the construction of the facility, WASCO has arranged for a Land Surveyor to survey the portion of land allocated by the utility at Beausajour, Rodney Bay, Gros Islet for the facility. Based on preliminary discussions with our banks 1st National Bank in St. Lucia the Secretariat engaged Desmond Auguste & Associates to prepare a valuation of the land and cost estimates for the construction of the facility. Once these activities are completed and the Executive Committee gives the go ahead a formal proposal will be submitted to the bank for consideration. Operators Certification Examinations: This year the Secretariat will be holding the next Operators Certification Examination in June and November 2011. A number of individuals from regional and international non-member utilities in the water and other water-related fields have indicated their interests in pursuing the examinations with CAWASA. Strategic Alliances: For some time now, the Secretariat has been trying to established contact with officials from water utilities in the three French Departments of Cayenne, Guadeloupe and Martinique with a view to collaborating and networking on various areas of interests. The Secretariat has written to the St Lucia Consulate General in Martinique, Mr. Keats Compton, seeking his assistance in arranging a meeting between the Executive Committee of CAWASA and the management of the three utilities with a view to deciding on areas of collaboration.
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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
In a world of plenty, 800 million still have no access to safe drinking water.
World Water Day was celebrated on March 22nd with governments and institutions the world over using the occasion to highlight water issues and promote good water practices. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued the following message for this year.
As the world charts a more sustainable future, the crucial interplay among water, food and energy is one of the most formidable challenges we face. Without water there is no dignity and no escape from poverty. Yet, the Millennium Development Goal target for water and sanitation is among those on which many countries lag the most. In little over a generation, 60 percent of the global population will be living in towns and cities, with much of the increase taking place in the inner city slums and squatter settlements of the developing world. The theme of this year's observance of World Water Day Water for Cities highlights some of the main challenges of this increasingly urban future. Urbanization brings opportunities for more efficient water management and improved access to drinking water and sanitation. At the same time, problems are often magnified in cities, and are currently outpacing our ability to devise solutions. Over the past decade, the number of urban dwellers who lack access to a water tap in their home or immediate vicinity has risen by an estimated 114 million, and the number of those who lack access to the most basic sanitation facilities has risen by 134 million. This 20 percent increase has had a hugely detrimental impact on human health and on economic productivity: people are sick and unable to work. Water challenges go beyond questions of access. In many countries, girls are forced to drop out of school owing to a lack of sanitation facilities, and women are harassed or assaulted when carrying water or visiting a public toilet. Moreover, the poorest and most vulnerable members of society often have little choice but to buy water from informal vendors at prices estimated to be 20 to 100 percent higher than that of their richer neighbours, who receive piped city water in their homes. This is not just unsustainable; it is unacceptable. Water problems will figure prominently at the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro, in 2012 Rio+20. My High-level Panel on Global Sustainability and UN-Water are examining ways in which we can connect the dots among water, energy and food security, with the aim of reducing poverty and inequality, generating jobs, and minimizing the risks of climate change and environmental stress. On World Water Day, I urge Governments to reorganise the urban water crisis for what it is a crisis of governance, weak policies and poor management, rather than one of scarcity. Let us also pledge to reverse the alarming decline in per capita investment in water and sanitation. And let us reaffirm our commitment to ending the plight of the more than 800 million people who, in a world of plenty, still do not have the safe drinking water or sanitation they need for a life in dignity and good health. Ban Ki-moon UN Secretary-General
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Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
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But not so for the importers and distributors of bottled water. Supermarkets and private water outlets sell bottled water at will -- and at any price. Unregulated and left to the forces of the marketplace, demand dictates supply and rising costs. The brands are many and the tastes and quality vary. But with each crisis affecting local water supply, the cost of bottled water goes up everywhere. The period following Hurricane Tomas was the most recent example, when bottled water increased in price with each renewed stock. The competition from bottled water is driving local water utilities down the drain. Kept under state and ministerial wraps, they have to await tariff increases that don't usually come in less than ten years, while the cost of producing and supplying water increases every year. Some of the region's water utilities operate under unfavourable conditions, while other essential public utilities operate more favourably. In St. Lucia, the national electricity company is allowed, by statute and law, to charge customers a surcharge to pay the full cost of the company's fuel purchases, according to the prevailing world market price. But not the national water company, which must both absorb the increases in the cost of its own fuel and also pay it's share of the electricity company's fuel bill. It's a case of being Damned if you do, damned if you don't, say water management experts of this situation. But it does not have to be this way, they add. CAWASA Executive Director Victor Poyotte, who has extensive experience in management and administration of the regional bodies representing both electricity and water utilities, says the unfair competition from bottled water simply has to be addressed by the governments and the utilities. It's unfair to the region's water utilities for them to be under such heavy manners, without enough finances and heavily regulated, in a situation where public coffers are dwindling, while our competitors in the private sector can simply erode our customer base with higher prices for the same product, he says. According to Mr Poyotte, Some people argue that the quality of bottled water is better, but what they fail to see is that if the local water utilities are given the means and the funds to operate efficiently, we will produce similar quality that would even be better, considering the contents are purely local. Local bottled water production is still very much in its infancy on most of the smaller islands, with bottled water imports being another source of drainage of foreign exchange. Planners, looking forward, say each of the local water utilities can themselves look in the direction of bottling water under highest quality standards. But they insist that until and unless there are radical changes in the operation, management and regulation of the region's water utilities, they will continue to face the threat of drowning from the rising volume and pressure of bottled water.
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Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
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Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
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Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
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CAWASA Inc.
Caribbean Water and Sewerage Association Incorporated
The speed with which dams and conservancies became clogged or were rendered ineffective underlined the need for regular servicing and monitoring of all aspects of operations. But the biggest lesson learned is the need for early and accurate assessments of damage to water utilities after a disaster like Tomas. With water being an essential service in a region so prone to disasters, Caribbean governments and utilities need to always consider having or having access to emergency funds to restore water supply. As the post-Tomas period also shows, repair and restoration of water services after disasters must always be implemented with the speed and efficiency that will allow them to be in place ahead of the next annual hurricane season or unexpected disaster. In effect, in addition to everything else, Tomas taught utilities and consumers alike the importance to always make a stitch in time, to save nine