Water Rationing Possible This Summer
Monday, October 19th, 2009The will be water rationing this summer, as the various water utilities around the country face problems with water supply due to the unusual dry winter or “rainy” season and the lack of construction of new wells and pipes to face moments like this.
The news comes from the Acueductos y Alcantarillados (AyA), the Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia (ESPH) and a number of smaller municipal water suppliers.
Defending the rationing, the AyA is blaming the waste by consumers who are not heeding to the call to consumer less water, like taking short showers and not watering the garden during the day.
The area that will be most affected by the water shortage is the Gran Área Metropolitana (GAM) – San José – especially in the high grounds of communities like Alajuelita, Santa Ana and Escazú where water has to be pumped, although the AyA does not discard water rationing in lower lying communities as well.
The AyA is making an early warning call to the population, admitting that it won’t be until late December when it can properly assess the water level situation and decide on what measures it will take.
Eduardo Lezama, subgerente of the AyA, says that it will be difficult to maintain normal flow of the liquid even though we have been getting lots of rain in the last week.
If the water rationing prediction becomes a reality, Lezama said that it would take effect in the first months of 2010.
The AyA is the major water utility in the country, serving more than half of the total population.
