Water, wealth of the poor
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- 12 / 21 / 2009
Water shortage causes millions of people and animals die. Nevertheless, many of the developed countries, main responsible of climate change try to ignore that the irreplaceable H2O, means "oil" of the poor and the rich in danger of extinction.
In Cuba, after the uncontrollable floods associated to hurricane Flora (1963), which destroyed everything on its way, the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, headed what he called the Water Saving Program, a movement to economize the use
of water.
It led to the construction of hundreds of dams, complementary works and systems of irrigation, to stock the rain fall in order to favour the supply of fresh water to the population and to irrigate million hectares of crops.
Camaguey’s clear waters are in fact fresh
In Camagüey, Cuba's largest province, the completion of the main hydraulic works took place from 1987 to 1989, and today on this flat eastern province, there are 53 big reservoirs and 13 channels managed by the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH) and 166 minor dams.
Engineer Eloy Alonso, director of the Company of Hydraulic Reserves of the INRH in Camagüey, stated the province will close year 2009, with a deficit of 200 millimetres of rain falls of the annual average, nevertheless, five dams which supply drinking water to the city of Camaguey are raising their levels by 60 per cent of their capacities, enough to satisfy the residential demand during the present dry period.
Hydraulic specialists also control the superficial and underground water reserves available for the development of the agricultural programs.
Jimaguayú and San Pedro dams, plus the Gibraltar hydro-regulator in the southern portion of the province, will ensure more than half a million cubic meters for rice and sugar cane cutivation; however, the experts underlined the need to speed up the
repair of Duran Hydro-regulator and water channels to increase the efficiency of the entire irrigation network during the current drought.
The greatest wealth of this Caribbean island is food production for the whole country and for the tourist industry as well.
Source: www.cadenagramonte.cu/
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