So here I am on a sunny Sunday morning, the clouds that once blanketed the skies throughout the week on account of a tropical system, have given way to a clear blue sky. This is my chance, I will do laundry, clean house and whip up breakfast and dinner that would make any restaurateur jealous. #WishfulThinking
My enthusiasm quickly turned into depression – lazily lounging around waiting… waiting to hear the pipes gush with water. Morning turned into midday, midday turned into evening…evening turned into night.
The Global Environment Facility, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Government of Jamaica are implementing a project that hopes to curtail my Sunday horrors. Under a 5 year project called the Integrated Management of the Yallahs and Hope River Watershed Management Areas Project, the National Environment and Planning Agency along with a slew of partners including the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Forestry Department have committed to working with land owners, communities and farmers within the Yallahs and Hope River WMUs to teach and promote better land management practices. Over one-hundred and fifty (150) hectares of crownlands are being reforested, some three hundred and seventy (370) hectares of private lands are being made into agro-forestry plots, farmers are learning climate smart agricultural techniques and communities will be strengthened as environmental stewards and trained in alternative livelihoods.
This kind of collaborative partnership has put people at the heart of the programme to develop sustainable systems, habits and lifestyles for the future.
This is good news for my pipes in Kingston; and with the NWC, Meteorological Services of Jamaica and the Water Resources Authority also on board this project, I can now dream of Sundays when my pipes will be overflowing with water.
It doesn’t take long for one to realize the value of a resource. In the same breath, it doesn’t take long for one to realize how fragile our ecosystem is and the very direct impact our habits as humans can have on the environment and our standard of living.
As I close this narrative which has in some way been therapeutic, I keep my fingers crossed and hope that when I get home later today, there will be water.
Please let there be water.