The subject of water scarcity has been a major talking point since the beginning of 2026, due to predictions of an extended dry spell. For Saint Lucia, the situation is compounded by the ageing infrastructure of the Water and Sewerage Company Inc, high levels of silt in the John Compton Dam and poor water conservation practices nationwide.
Over the last week, the discussions have escalated to parliament and to a summit involving private sector leaders, led by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre.
Central to these discussions have been rainwater harvesting and desalination.
Last year, in a presentation to the Saint Lucia Hotel and Tourism Association (SLHTA), Dr James Fletcher, CARICOM climate envoy, warned of several threats to the industry due to climate change. Fletcher highlighted that droughts would impact not just potable water supplies but also agriculture and food supplies. He also urged the tourism sector to invest in rainwater harvesting.
“It grieves me as a former minister with responsibility for WASCO, that WASCO will take water from a watershed, use electricity to bring it to the water treatment plant, treat it, use electricity to pump it to our homes and our hotels, and we promptly flush that water down the toilet,” Fletcher stated. “Make it make sense,” he thumped.
“So let’s do rainwater harvesting, so we can have dual plumbing so that rainwater we harvest we can use for irrigating our lawns, flushing our toilets… it also saves you money, because guess what, there is no cost to that green water,” he advised.
One year later, it would appear that this advice for many in the sector was not heeded, as the dry spell has left some hoteliers scrambling.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, the SLHTA’s Chief Executive Officer, Noorani Azeez, said that for the past few years, the organisation has been monitoring the impact of climate change on water systems and patterns.
“We have been noticing significant deficiencies in water supplies, particularly during the dry season and this year we are advised that we should be bracing ourselves for a difficult year as it relates to water,” Azeez told reporters.
He went on to relate that, since the middle of last year, the board of directors of the SLHTA has been discussing the resources needed to mitigate the negative impact of the water shortage. Data was also collected from a number of SLHTA members who have had to pay the very expensive cost of trucking water to their properties.
Commenting on the high-level meeting held by the SLHTA last week, Azeez said the conversation was really about the strategies the sector needed to employ to reduce this expense and ensure a dependable water supply during these times. “And most importantly, how do we ensure that the needs of the industry do not negatively impact WASCO’s commitment to communities and to domestic consumption,” he stated.
According to the SLHTA’s CEO, a number of solutions were put on the table, including expanding desalination plants operated by some hotels, which he said was an expensive endeavour.
“The other issue we set about looking at is how do we assess our respective plants to ensure that we can increase our capacity to harvest water and to store water once we’ve harvested it, and how can we use our wastewater more efficiently, purifying it, and using it for watering lawns, gardens, or what have you.”
Azeez revealed that the meeting also discussed the prospects of barging in water from neighbouring countries to meet demands. He said, however, that this was an expensive prospect as well. Membership of the SLHTA, he said, looked at the possibility of financing such a venture for members.
“So, for us, it was a discussion, a very open conversation on a multi-pronged approach. That would again reduce our dependence on the utility company in Saint Lucia, ensure that the supplies that they have available are prioritised for our communities, but to ensure that we can assure our guests of a positive experience without being faced by the challenge of a water shortage on property,” Azeez said
He acknowledged that the SLHTA is aware that demand on the water supply will increase with the addition of hotel rooms. He said, however, that he is pleased with WASCO’s recent investments to upgrade its plants and facilities.
“We’re very encouraged by the efforts that over the past few months and over the coming months WASCO is undertaking to renew those pipelines and put in new structures. That, we anticipate, is going to guarantee a bit more dependability on the provision of that utility. But as a private sector, we reserve the right to explore at our own cost other opportunities as well, one of which is: can we barge water in, how frequently can it be done, and can we avail ourselves of this in a very efficient way?
The SLHTA is also hoping to engage government on incentives to allow private sector companies to audit their facilities and better understand harvesting opportunities within plants.
According to the SLHTA, last week’s high-level engagement convened by Pierre called for closer collaboration on both immediate responses and longer-term strategies to strengthen national water security.
Representatives from the Water and Sewerage Company Inc. (WASCO), the Saint Lucia Hospitality and Tourism Association (SLHTA), the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Public Utilities, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Saint Lucia Manufacturers’ Association participated in the discussions.
A key update during the meeting was about the Northern Pipeline Project, targeting Bonne Terre to Gros Islet. The project is scheduled to commence in April 2026 and is expected to take about four months to complete. This will strengthen water distribution capacity in the northern corridor, one of Saint Lucia’s most densely populated and economically active areas.
Is that millet damm
That’s not the millet damm, it is the John Compton Dam….in its glory days!
This has been my question for a while. Why do we continue building large resorts like A’ila without requiring them to have an alternate source of water when the people are already suffering without water for so long? They are located right on the sea. Why were they not required to have their own desalination and storage? And they’re not the only ones but they are the most recent and the largest. The government and ministry, I’ve had their eyes shut for too long. We cannot keep building in this way.
Any competent shareholder would fire the leadership of a non-performing management team. Water provision need to be handled by competent people. Annual rainfall (inches): Grenada 93, Dominica 82, St. Lucia 90, St. Vincent 62, Martinique 80. How many of these nearby islands have water issues like St. Lucia does? NONE! We receive more than enough rainfall. Clearly the Board and Management of WASCO are unable to deliver. Such an important function should not be under the stewardship of incompetent people. Stop with the nepotism and cronyism. You inject money into this venture with those same proven failure and they result would be the same. Fix the problem form the top The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.
Adding to the excellent commentary by “If water is life WASCO is the Grim Reaper”:
We are tired of the gaslighting bulletins from WASCO about water conservation and collection. The general public is completely blameless. WASCO is the ultimate culprit for our water woes!
So far this year, I have had to repair burst pipes on my property every time WASCO turns water back on, after unannounced outages. My neighbors have had the same problems. Yet still, we are required to pay for every gallon of water wasted, even though WASCO is to blame. Why? Because the pipe breakages occur after the meter!
During the last visit (2 weeks ago) by the plumber to repair a broken pipe on my roof, I remarked that even though I have had a collection tank (on the roof) for 15 years, whenever water was shut off in my neighborhood, there was an immediate non-supply of water to my taps, just like my neighbors who did not possess collection tanks. He explained that my tank water was being drained back out through the meter into the main water supply system. This explained my exorbitant monthly water bill over the last two years for a household of only two persons! He recommended that I install a non-return valve, just inside my property, on my water line, to prevent me from paying multiple times for water I never used.
The latest water outage was last week. Luckily, I noticed the WASCO ‘techs’ in the process of shutting off the water. To my surprise, I immediately lost water – nothing flowed from the collection tank on the roof. The upshot of this latest event is that there is a break/are breaks (of the pipe leading to the roof-top tank) under the concrete flooring of my house. I now have to pay money out of my pocket for major repairs to fix faults that were not of my doing (also, not a natural occurrence) & for legal services to obtain relief from the incompetence of WASCO.
Meanwhile, the PM continues his gaslighting of St. Lucians regarding our woes, to absolve WASCO from the soaking our pockets of our hard-earned money. Perhaps, the reason he does not deem it a political matter is because the St. Lucian government is a primary stakeholder in WASCO; and, no matter which member of the political duopoly is in ascension, the public must take the blame (and pay through the nose) for the rampant corruption in government and their agencies!