Progress and Constraints in Developing Integrated Water
Resources Management in
Belize
Ramon
Frutos
Hydrology
Unit
National
Meteorological Service of
Belize
6 August 2003
1.0
Background
Belize
has been uniquely endowed with substantial surface and groundwater resources.
A dependable tropical/subtropical rainfall regime in the
Northwest Caribbean
region replenishes the freshwater resource after extended dry periods, which
are often induced by recurrent atmospheric / oceanic phenomena such as El Niño
Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), and
feedback mechanisms associated with Climate Change.
However, increase in demands for freshwater resulting from increasing population,
economic activity and agricultural expansion are threatening the quality and
availability of freshwater. Coupled with this is the added stress on the
resource induced by increasing climatic variability witnessed during the past
decade or two.
Belize
has a total of 18 major river catchments with another 16 sub-catchments, which
drain the
Maya
Mountains
and discharge into the
Caribbean Sea
. Boles (1999) identifies 16 principal watersheds which he roughly grouped
into six main watershed regions based on general characteristics of
topography, geology, soils, rainfall and land use.
He defines a watershed region as a cluster of watersheds that share
many structural, climatic and often impact characteristics.
The watershed regions include: the Northern Watershed Region, the
Northeastern, the Central, the Southeastern, the Southwestern and the Southern
Watershed Region.
The total volume of
freshwater available per capita in Belize in 1995 was 80.8 thousand cubic
meters, the highest in Latin America (CCAD, 1998; Belize First National
Communications COP/UNFCCC, 2000). In
additions, numerous freshwater and brackish water lakes or lagoons are
scattered in the central and northern coastal, and
inland low-lying areas.
Potable water supply
for urban communities and some rural settlements, and the provision of
sewerage services for
Belize City
and
Belmopan
are provided by Belize Water Services (BWS), a private water company, which
bought over the assets and liabilities of the former Water and Sewerage
Authority of Belize (WASA) in 2000. The
company manages water supply systems for nine urban areas and some fifty-six
rudimentary systems. The average daily water supply from river sources is
approximately 3.79 million gallons, from groundwater sources it is 0.59
million gallons and from springs 0.38 million gallons (Johnson, 1996).
Groundwater is a vital
source for freshwater in rural
Belize
, where almost 95 % of the freshwater supply comes from groundwater (Rural
Water Unit, Ministry of Rural Development).
Groundwater is
extracted in rural areas through the use of hand pumps and rudimentary water
systems. The Rural Water Unit is primarily responsible for drilling wells and
installing pumps. They also work closely with the community in the development
of rudimentary water systems, which are finance jointly by the Government of
Belize through the Social Investment Funds (SIF), and United Nation Agencies
such as UNICEF, PAHO, and UNHCR.
2.0
Stakeholders
In
Belize
there are several agencies and organization that have a stake in water use and
management in one way or the other. Consequently, in their endeavor to execute
their duties and achieve their goals, overlaps and duplication of efforts
among the agencies is common, while some important responsibilities remain
unattended. Cognizant of this the
Government of Belize through the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment,
Industry and Commerce (MNREI), earlier this year saw the need to reactivate
the National Pro-tem Water Commission, which was active in the early 90s, but
became defunct with change in administrations.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
November 1994 Technical Cooperation Program Report entitled, “Water
Resources Management Policy, Planning and Organization” recommended that the
Water Commission be activated, and that Government put in place the legal
framework and institutional capacity for the sustainable management of
Belize
’s water resources (FAO, 1994). The
current Pro-tem Water Commission, chaired by the Chief Environmental Officer,
is in the process of revising the FAO 1994 Report, proposed activities and
make policy recommendations to the Belize Government on water-related issues.
Membership of the
Pro-tem Water Commission for the next two years include the: Department of the
Environment, Meso-American Barrier Reef System,
Lands Department, Meso-American Biological
Corridors, Forest Department, Meteorology Department, Ministry of Rural
Development, PAHO, Belize Water Services Ltd., Public Utilities Commission,
Conservation Division (Forestry), Public Health Bureau, Ministry of
Agriculture, Belize Electricity Ltd., Belize Audubon Society and a Legal
Council (MNREI).
The Hydrology Unit
within the National Meteorological Service of Belize is responsible for
collecting and analyzing data on the quantity, quality, and variability of
Belize
’s water resources. It is also
responsible for the publication and dissemination of water resources
information, provision of hydrological advice for engineering and other water
related projects, dissemination of early warning for floods and inundations
generated by extreme hydro-meteorological events, and issuing warnings related
to dam regulation and dam break. The
Hydrology Unit currently manages and maintains 27 hydrological observation
sites in all but two of the 18 major watersheds. The two watersheds with no
stage gauge monitoring sites are the Temash and Sarstoon.
The plan for the near future is to expand the hydrological monitoring
network into these remote watersheds in southern
Belize
.
Other agencies and
institutions in water supply and management include: the Belize Water Services
responsible for the provision of potable water to urban and some rural
communities, and providing functional sewerage services to Belize City; the
Rural Water Unit, responsible for drilling wells for rural communities and the
development of Rudimentary Water Supply Systems; the Public Health Bureau and
Coastal Zone Management Authority, both of whom conduct water quality
monitoring; and the Department of the Environment (DOE) whose mandate cuts
across the responsibilities of all other water related agencies under the
Environmental Protection Act of 1992. Although
legally empowered, human and financial resources limit the efforts of the DOE.
The Ministry of Works
is responsible for the construction and maintenance of navigable waterways and
bridges. Engineering works, land reclamation, drainage and facilitating
transportation along flooded roads are also their responsible.
Some other important players in water related issues include the
Ministry of Agriculture, the Public Utilities Commission, local Bottled Water
Companies, PAHO, Belize Electricity Limited, Audubon Society, and various NGOs
and national focal points of regional and international agencies such as UNEP,
the Global Water Partnership (GWP-CATAC), UNDP and others.
No comprehensive
water-quality monitoring program exists in
Belize
. A number of agencies monitor
water quality for their own purposes. Some
of these agencies include the Department of the Environment, Public Health
Bureau, Fisheries Department, Coastal Zone Authority, Belize Water Services,
environmental NGOs and consulting agencies.
3.0
Integrated Water Resources Management and Challenges
Integrated
Water Resources Management (IWRM) is one approach to promote sustainable water
resources use and management. This
is the paradigm promulgated by GWP and is essentially a
stakeholder/community-based, holistic approach for the management of a country’s
water resources. The GWP defines
IWRM as a process that promotes the coordinated development and administration
of water, land and related resources, in order to maximize the social and
economic benefit in an equitable way, without jeopardizing the sustainability
of vital ecosystems (TAC,
Background Paper, No. 4/GWP; p.22).
As a member of the Central American Integration System (SICA) and
CARICCOM,
Belize
participates actively in regional efforts to coordinate the management of the
region’s water resources. Some
of these initiatives include the: “Vision on Water, Life and the Environment
for the 21st Century”, conducted in 2000 by the Water Center for
the Humid Tropics of Latin America and the Caribbean (CATHALAC); workshops and
seminars on groundwater related issues and water legislations conducted by the
Central American Technical Advisory Committee (CATAC) of the GWP; the
Commission for Hydrology of the World Meteorological Organizations regional
and international workshops and conferences; the recent Water Quality Standard
Project for Belize conducted by PAHO, Red Cross and the Belize Public Health
Bureau; and CEDERA initiatives in disaster management and flood mitigation.
4.0
A Vision for the Future
Belize
’s water resources are vitally important for the economic development of the
nation and the welfare of its people. The
resource is finite and vulnerable to degradation. As in most places, water is
considered a free resource and available for the benefit of all (Belize First
National Comm. to the COP/UNFCCC, 2000). People use it with little
consideration of the needs of others or of its sustainability.
Water resources in shared watersheds are the property of co-basin countries,
however, little consideration has been given to the proportional ownership and
level of responsibility for its protection.
Groundwater abstraction is unregulated as is the case with surface water,
and the use of freshwater for irrigation keeps increasing for the cultivation
of banana, rice and citrus, without any restriction.
The “Vision”
for sustainable water resources management in
Belize
will need to address these problems and miss-guided practices. It will need to
consider an integrated approach to water resources management, which requires
the participation of all stakeholders, communities and decision-makers. The
Pro-tem Water Commission must undertake proactive actions and strategies to
change the public’s attitude toward sustainable water use and conservation,
and submit binding and effective policy recommendations to the Government of
Belize which should help formulate legislations for regulating the use of
Belize
’s freshwater, and safe-guard this vital resource for present and future
generations of Belizean.
References
Boles, R.,
1999. The
Sibun
River
Watershed Atlas.
Sibun Watershed Association. GOB Printers, p.
4.
CATHALAC,
2000. Vision on Water, Life
and the Environment for the 21st Century:
Regional
Consultation,
Central America
.
Panama
, March 2000.
CCAD,
1998. Estado
del Ambiente y Los Recursos
Naturales en Centraoamerica
1998.
First National Communications
to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations
Framework
Convention on Climate
Change
,
Belize
. January
2000. UNDP Project/98/G31?A/1/99.
GWP-CATAC,
2000. Report: Regional
Workshop on Water Legislation.
Antigua
Guatemala
,
Guatemala
,
Dec. 4-5, 2000
IDB,
UNDP, UICN, WRI, USAID and the Swedish Government.
Johnson, K., 1996. National
Report on Water Resources:
Belize
, Country Report. In
Water
Resources Assessment and management Strategies in
Latin America
and the
Caribbean
. Proceedings of the WMO/IDB Conference.
San Jose
Costa Rica
, 6-11 May, 1996.
