HR: 0800h
AN: H51F-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Water Resources Management in Coastal Karst Aquifers in the Caribbean
AU: * Farrell, D
EM: dfarrell@cimh.edu.bb
AF: Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology, Husbands, St. James, Barbados
AU: Boyce, S
AF: Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology, Husbands, St. James, Barbados
AB: Coastal karst aquifers represent significant sources of water on several Caribbean islands including Barbados, Jamaica, and Tobago and an important auxiliary source of water on several others. In Barbados, for example, approximately 20 percent of the annual water demands comes from coastal karst aquifers. Sustainable management of freshwater resources contained in coastal karst aquifers is severely lacking on many Caribbean islands due to limited data collection, insufficient knowledge of hydrologic conditions, and limited institutional capacity. These limitations in turn result in poorly defined and, in some cases, non-existent policies and legal frameworks to support sustainable aquifer management. Challenges associated with the management of coastal karst aquifers in the Caribbean are expected to increase in response to (i) future climate change and climate variability, (ii) changes in population demographics, and (iii) competition for available resources. This presentation discusses these emerging challenges and current work aimed at improving water resources management in the Caribbean.
DE: 1876 Water budgets
DE: 1880 Water management (6334)
DE: 1884 Water supply
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly