The water reserves in the reservoirs of the dams continue to decrease. At the close of last week, their water level dropped one meter in relation to the previous week when they dropped from 740 million cubic meters to 670 million.
The data was offered by the geologist, Osiris de León, who assured that This level of reserves, in the midst of an extended drought, is insufficient to cover the high demands for water of aqueducts and irrigation canals.
The Monción, Rincón, Hatillo, Jigüey and Sabaneta dams are receiving the least flows, since they barely receive between two and three cubic meters per second, De León explained to Listín Diario and indicated that these are minimum flows compared to those that normally are received, and with water outlets that double, triple and quadruple those few inputs.
The expert reiterated the called on the population to understand the current situation of drought and contribute to saving water.
He considered that the official conclusion of this phase of the La Niña phenomenon places the country in a neutral period, but in transit towards the El Niño phenomenon for the second half of this year, for which he said the regional drought will be more than seasonal.
He stated that this will complicate the water supply for the aqueducts and must almost completely restrict the supply of water to irrigation canalsreducing the agricultural production between 25% and 40%and forcing control agencies to take extreme measures in relation to water management .
Dam situation
According to the information provided by the expert, the reservoir of the monción damwhich supplies the aqueduct of the Northwest Linewas 20 meters below its maximum operational level last week, and this week it is 21 meters below, with an input of less than three cubic meters per second and an output between 16 and 17 cubic meters per second, for what has been necessary to reduce the output of water to about 10 cubic meters per second, that is, 40% less water.
The reservoir of the valdesia damon the Nizao River, which supplies the Santo Domingo, San Cristóbal and Baní aqueducts, was seven meters below its maximum operational level last week, and this week it is eight meters below, with an inlet of 10 cubic meters per second and an outlet between 20 cubic meters per second, thanks to the fact that it is consuming part of the water reserves of the Jigüey and Aguacate dams, because Jigüey is only receiving two cubic meters per second, for which Santo Domingo’s aqueduct has a deficit of 74 million gallons of water per day, that is, 17% less water.
The reservoirs of the Tavera and Bao dams, on the Yaque del Norte and Bao rivers, which supply the Santiago and Moca aqueducts, were 10 meters below their maximum operational level last week, and this week they are 11 meters below, with an inlet of 10 cubic meters per second and a previous output of 22 cubic meters per second. These reservoirs are now reduced to 17 cubic meters per second, that is, almost 25% less, which affects the Santiago and Moca aqueducts.
water observatory
Every week the Water Observatory meets, made up of the heads of the Hydroelectric Generation Company (Egehid), Rafael Salazar, from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (Indrhi), Olmedo Caba Romano, from the National Meteorology Office (Onamet), Gloria Ceballos, from the Santo Domingo Aqueduct and Sewerage Corporation (CAASD), Felipe Suberví, and from the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA), Wascar Martínez.
In one of their meetings, it was suggested that in order to ensure long-term drinking water, alternative and expanded solutions are studied for the Greater Santo Domingo aqueduct, analyzing additional sources.
Responsible use
Given the situation posed by the scarcity of water, both for human consumption and for irrigation, The authorities have called on the population to make responsible use of the precious liquidavoiding waste and rationalizing its disposal.
more prey
Every time the drought affects us, experts point out the need to build more dams in the country, to have greater storage capacity.