Transcript Diapositiva 1

Water management and
vulnerability to Climate Change
in the Caribbean Small Island
Developing States
Mattia Amadio (CMCC)
EWRA 2013
Porto, 22-26 June
Climate Change impacts in the Caribbean
 Vulnerability of Small Island Developing
States was recognized during RIO 1992.
 Barbados and Mauritius Conferences
on Sustainable Development of SIDS
considered climate change as principle
threat to not only the sustainable
development but also the survival of SIDS.
“If the Caribbean countries fail to adapt, they
are likely to take direct and substantial
economic hits to their most important
industry sectors such as tourism and
agriculture (including fisheries), which are
highly climate sensitive sectors “...” and
significant losses “...” will not only increase
unemployment but will have debilitating
social and cultural consequences to
communities.” (Dulal et al., 2009)
Progress
Climate Change impacts in the Caribbean
SIDS countries pay the highest toll to Climate Change due to:
• Limited size and resources
• High susceptibility to natural hazards
• Limited adaptation options
• Higher costs and low funding
100000000
10000000
1000000
Drought
Climatic hazards in the Caribbean
during last 10 years (2002-2013)
Flood
100000
10000
Mass movement wet
1000
100
Storm
10
1
Occurrence
Deaths
Total affected
Freshwater availability, in particular, is critically affected:
Total damage
('000 USD)
 Rise in temperature (0.13°C per decade in the past 50 years) increase surface water
evapotranspiration.
 Variations in rainfall and storms regimes stresses the surface water supply as well as the
groundwater recharge pattern.
 Sea level rise (3.4±0.7mm/yr) erodes the coastal line and may cause saline intrusion.
 Extreme events such as droughts are expected to increase in duration and intensity.
Progress
Freshwater resource in Small Islands
Sensitive hydrological balance:
 Surface freshwater depends
mostly on rainfall, but undergo a
fast run-off and evapotranspiration
process if not collected properly.
 Groundwater is stored in thin
aquifers (water lenses), but their
volume capacity and supply
availability is often unknown.
(Source: Falkland, 1993)
All the socio-economic activities on the islands, such tourism and agriculture,
depends on the availability of freshwater and the stability of the ecosystem.
However, to properly understand the problem under a climate change scenario
and to propose efficient adaptation and mitigation measures, reliable data
about freshwater storage, availability and demand are needed.
Progress
Water Resources Management
Water resource management is a key topic for the
improvement of water availability and security in SIDS.
Improvement of freshwater management will be pursued by:
 Assessing Water Supply / Demand Gap for present and
future scenarios
 Developing suggestions about adaptation measures for
SIDS:
 Economic Policy Instruments
 Technical solutions
Progress
Direction of research
 Fill the gap about past climatic trends
and develop proper climatic scenarios
(especially related to rainfall) for the
Caribbean sub-region.
 Evaluate Potential Water Availability
(Natural + Artificial) using a hydrological
balance model and compare it to National
Water Demand.
 Link
together socio-economic and
climatic scenarios up to 2030 to
understand potential changes to water
demand and availability.
 Assess water management and key
vulnerabilities related to water availability
to develop an action plan for the
sustainable usage of the resource.
Progress
Annual maximum
consecutive 5-day
precipitation total for
2071-2099 related to A2
scenario.
Source: PRECIS-caribe
RCM project
PWA = PNWA + PAWA <> NWD?
o PNWA (Rainfall, groundwater, surface water, local population,
touristic presences)
o PAWA (Dam and reservoirs, non-conventional water, local
population, touristic presences)
Review of preliminary analysis
Quantitative and qualitative Data
(Total water supply & demand amounts; water supply infrastructure, number of users, pricing &
cost-recovery, geospatial data)
 Data from major institutions (WB, FAO, WHO) and Reports show
critical gaps
Statistics are incomplete and scattered. Very incomplete supply & demand
picture. Some past research/project reports include complete statistics, but just
for specific limited areas and timeframes. Raw data access is very difficult.
 Need for access to Government Reports
Publically available reports only those for UN agency participation, IWRM plans,
general climate change national statements. Internal government, ministry &
water management agency reports exist though not available online.
Governance
 Cohesion & Coherence missing in Integrated Water Resources
Management
Water legislation and water responsibilities across stakeholders are very cross-sectoral.
Progress
Review of preliminary analysis
Policy instruments
 Water pricing extremely low
Water is underpriced. It does not recover costs or provide basis for future
investments. There is a problem with repayments as well. Prices have doubled
in past decade, but analysis considers them still very underpriced.
 Only pricing is used in terms of EPIs
There are no permit trading systems, water rights agreements or auctions.
Water abstraction licenses are awarded to individual abstractors, selection
process unknown.
 Inadequate Command & Control mechanisms
No official rationing policy. Shortages or droughts are not mitigated by equally
dividing water resources by areas: rather “water aid” is donated to droughtaffected regions. Disruption to system/supply often means undelivered demand.
 No supply assessment or enhancement strategy
Little information on future sources of supply. There have been some projects
working on returning to Rainwater Harvesting. No specific supply enhancement
strategies mentioned in publicly available online information.
Progress
Review of preliminary analysis
Climatic measures
 No water-specific climate change adaptation/mitigation measures
There are no mitigation proposals aimed at water management, mainly noregret policies: CC will exacerbate scarcity, thus guaranteeing efficient water
delivery is in itself mitigation.
 Increased experience in relief during droughts/storms
Islands’ capabilities at responding in case of natural disasters are improving:
management of roles and responsibilities, developing a Disaster Management
strategy per ministry and utility. Water is transported through trucks & boats to
drought areas.
 Focus on damage management
Too much focus on relief rather then prevention. Most disaster management
involves post-hazard action. Clear water policies on how to mitigate effects of
climate change on water are missing (e.g. water storage, storm-resistant
infrastructure).
 Climatic policies under development
Most disaster management plans and water manage plans are in their
development phase during these last years.
Progress
Thanks
Mattia Amadio (CMCC)
[email protected]