CASTRIES, St Lucia — The WASCO water situation has reached what the utility’s leadership describes as a bleak point after January rainfall fell significantly below normal, making it the sixth driest January on record, according to local weather forecasters. Regional climate guidance indicates some increase in rainfall is possible over the next three months, but officials warned it may still be insufficient to ease longer-term drought impacts in the Windward Islands.
WASCO Chief Executive Officer Zilta George Lesile told reporters Wednesday that supplies have been depleted and climate conditions are reducing available raw water across the island. She said several water sources are dry, including rivers in the north and the south, forcing the utility to manage a limited supply while keeping critical systems running.
Zilta George Lesile said some areas may still receive water at times, but overall production is not enough to meet islandwide demand consistently. She said WASCO’s focus is now on distributing scarce resources in a way that reduces the risk of broader disruption for households and businesses.
Valving schedules and trucking costs add pressure on communities
Zilta George Lesile said WASCO is considering valving, a rotational distribution approach that would send water to communities on a schedule rather than continuously. She said the intent is to share a limited supply across multiple zones, especially as the dry season tightens conditions in smaller systems.
She also addressed water trucking, which involves moving supplies from areas with greater availability to communities facing scarcity. George Lesile said WASCO uses its own trucks, but cannot meet the volume of demand, which forces the company to hire private truckers.
She estimated WASCO’s annual trucking costs at about EC$1 million to EC$2 million, and said the total can increase depending on emergencies and unplanned maintenance works. For households, trucking and scheduled supply often mean residents must store water for daily needs, adjust washing and cleaning routines, and spend more when private delivery becomes the only option.
The strain extends to small businesses that depend on reliable water for sanitation and customer service. Food operators, salons, laundries, and other service providers can face interruptions and higher operating costs when supply becomes irregular.
George Lesile said the utility recently faced an emergency that required shutting down the supply because of damaged pipelines. She said domestic and commercial service in the north was severely affected, including areas with a high concentration of hotels.
She said hotels have been cooperative and often arrange private trucking, allowing WASCO to focus more of its limited response capacity on residential needs. The tourism sector’s ability to self-supply can reduce immediate pressure on the public network during disruptions, but it does not remove the wider challenge of constrained raw water availability.
February outlook keeps the WASCO water situation uncertain
Jason Ernest, director of WASCO’s Water Resource Management Unit, said February is a critical period for assessing water resources in the short term. He said the January to March outlook indicates conditions could be wetter than usual, but the benefit depends on how rainfall is distributed across catchments.
Ernest said rainfall does not automatically restore the supply immediately after showers. He explained that high water events can increase turbidity in some catchments outside the John Compton Dam, requiring shutdowns to protect treatment operations and water quality, which can interrupt supply even when rainfall occurs.
Jim King, who heads the Water Services Unit at WASCO, said water levels at the John Compton Dam are lower than at the same period last year. He said some intakes are also registering deficits, reflecting the cumulative effects of dry conditions.
King said the dry season’s impact is usually most severe in the south, where smaller rural systems have less storage and fewer alternatives than the larger dam-based network. He said those smaller systems can decline faster and recover more slowly, which magnifies the impact on residents in affected communities.
King also pointed to recent damage to raw water lines earlier this month. While the lines have been restored, WASCO officials said major investment is needed to replace ageing infrastructure that remains vulnerable to breaks and service interruptions.
Rate review before NURC and pipeline upgrades expected in March
Pressed on WASCO’s application for a water rate increase, George Lesile said the company has submitted its request to the National Utilities Regulatory Commission and is now in the consultation stage. She said the public can provide feedback as the regulator considers what any adjustment should look like.
WASCO has also faced recent public scrutiny over governance and management issues detailed in a report on the St Lucia water utility leadership crisis.
George Lesile said WASCO needs a rate increase, as operating costs continue to rise during periods of water scarcity. She did not outline specific pricing outcomes, noting that the decision rests with the regulator and the consultation process.
WASCO head of water projects Maurice Norville said the company has already started short-term to medium-term interventions aimed at easing infrastructure pressure. He said WASCO has secured funding to replace raw water lines from Millet to Vanard and is now in the pre-construction phase.
Norville said an upgrade to the Theobalds treatment plant is also planned. He said a third project, replacement of the northern pipeline from Bonne Terre to Gros Islet, is expected to begin in March.
For the longer term, WASCO officials have made the case that desalination plants are becoming inevitable. They said the option is being considered as climate variability increases and traditional surface sources become less reliable, raising the stakes for a more resilient national water supply.
