Enhancing Water Security in the Bahaman Islands - Infrastructure and Capacity Building for Freshwater Management: North Andros Island

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas suffers from frequent shortages of freshwater, a condition that is characteristic of many low-lying island nations around the world. Access to freshwater is essential for economic and political stability in the Bahamas, especially because tourism, a major stress on freshwater supplies, accounts for more than 60% of the country's gross domestic product and overall economic growth prospects in the short run rest heavily on the fortunes of the tourism sector. Availability of freshwater resources in the face of increasing tourism demand and climate variability will be a critical part of the Bahamas economic sustainability. This project, funded by NorthCom, will provide collaborative, practical assistance to the Bahamian government to monitor and enhance their fragile water security.

Other than desalination, the primary source of fresh water for the capital city of Nassau (the home of about 70% of the nation's population) is the fresh groundwater lens of North Andros Island. The lens is shallow and thin, and the current water-collection system "skims" water from the top of the groundwater lens for barge delivery to Nassau on New Providence Island. This project will document the seasonal and annual fluctuations in the Andros Island freshwater lens, and the climatic drivers from which this resource is derived, thus providing the baseline time-series data for managers to make informed decisions and greatly enhance the Bahamas' long-term water security. Specifically, the project will work with the Bahamian water management entities to deploy and maintain a groundwater and evapotranspiration monitoring network for key data parameters, develop a geospatial database for archival of historic and newly collected groundwater information, and develop the local capacity to maintain the infrastructure and interpret the results of the accompanying monitoring effort.

The monitoring design, technology, and interpretive results will provide a model for other island nations in the Caribbean (and around the world) and will be disseminated through one or more regional workshops over the course of the project. The project represents the first case study for UNESCO's GRAPHIC (Groundwater Resource Assessment under the Pressures of Humanity and Climate Change) Program. It will begin in mid-2010.

For further information, please contact Bret Bruce or Will Logan.