22102: jedidiah: more on the water situation, and the inundations (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: jedidiah <postmaster@lyalls.net>

This weekends very heavy  rains, and the sweeping away of various
villages over on the north east slope of the mountain range (foret
des pines? baharona?) brings the water situation into an
unfortunately ironic view.

Last week we were  talking (in the corbett village) about the cost of
water delivered for houshold consumption. 5 gourdes for a bucket,
1500 gou for a truckload which might total 3000 gallons. 500 gou for
a connection to the city supply which may, or may not, deliver some
water in any given month.

Some  years back I mentioned on the list a project that some other
tropical, semi arid country was implementing. I do not recall which
country that was now. They were beginning to require every house to
have water collectors for the roof run off and put the runoff into
the well. Back into the ground. After filling the basin for
consumption it must be assumed.

I mentioned this idea to a friend here in Haiti. He said that the
Jean Claude regime had asked the Israeli's for an analyis of the
water supply problem in Hayti. After some very short data gathering
they left, saying that Hayti had no water problem, they had a mental
problem in letting all the water run out to sea. This was how it was
recounted to me. I am sure that they were much more diplomatic than
that.

So, wi. We had a tremendous amount of rain over a large area.
Probably nothing could have prevented floods and mudslides, but the
next dry season will find Hayti short of water again because
virtually all of this water ran down the hills to the sea.

They say that a dam burst over by  Jimani, so the Dominicans have
been doing something to try to bank their water. These mountains that
Port au Prince huddles up against have no dams at all that I have
discovered. There could easily be thousands of small dams and ponds
and lakes scattered throughout the hills.

The Wynne farm has two large storage tanks built under runoff areas
which are paved with local stone to catch the runoff and provide
irrigation water in the dry seasons. These were built by one man
(Victor Wynne) along with the staff that the farm could afford back
in the days before the embargo destroyed the Haytian economy.

The radio commentators have been talking about how planting pye bwa
(new trees, seedlings) is what the back country needs to arrest the
erosion and flooding. If some Haytian government could actually take
this seriously then there may be hope for life here.

Planting trees and paying peasants to take  care of them. Building
small dams and agricultural ponds like you see all over the eastern
hill country of the USA. How about filling the eroded ravines with
the wrecked car bodies that litter all the roads? Maybe some day
building a landfill for the trash? (My household just dumps its
garbage beside the road. There is nothing else to do with it.)

Ah, this mornings BBC world service said that 900 bodies had been
found in a former village called Mapou. Probably built in the bottom
of a ravine and completely swept away when the mountain came down in
mud.

We need a Green Party here. Parti Vert de Hayti. Put the back country
peasants to work planting and caring for the forests. Forbid the
transport of charcoal, require permits for cutting trees as in the
bad old days. Have each commune build and take care of dams and
ponds. We could raise carp like eastern Europe has been doing for a
thousand years. Catfish and Koi!

 From  adversity, opportunity! Haiti the green  again! Tet ansamm folks!
-- 
J.David Lyall, or
     Jedidiah Daudi
http://www.lyalls.net/