If these measures are implemented, estimates are that 70% of the flooding can be alleviated

Please permit me to elucidate on the drainage requirements of Guyana. Watching the outcome of the recent floods has precipitated these thoughts. As an industry practitioner with 47 years’ experience in drainage, I offer the following recommendations:

● Global warming is here to stay. As a result, the moisture storage capacity of the atmosphere has increased over the past three decades, this means that when precipitation takes place, it’s more intense as there is more water to fall as rain. Hence the observed increase in rainfall over that corresponding period. In reality, this means that floods are here to stay! The best we can do is engineer our drainage system to cope with such floods and attenuate the adverse effects on our lives.

● The Drainage and Irrigation Department needs to be split into Drainage and Irrigation. A Drainage Director needs to be appointed. This person must report directly to the President or Prime Minister.

● ALL drainage canals need to be dredged immediately. Siltation over the years has restricted their capacity to effectively deal with floods and effectively drain the land.

● ALL outfall channels need to be dredged from the Kokers to the sea. The contour of such channels must be cut/excavated to render them self-cleaning.

● Mangrove revegetation needs to be accelerated. Mangroves are our first line of defence from the onslaught of the sea.

● Vegetation covering 15m wide on each bank of every river, from the water’s edge, should be protected. Such growth of trees will arrest rainfall runoff allowing that water to percolate down to the water table and recharge it. During the dry season, that water will be released into the river as riparian springs. This will need legislation. Where deforestation of this area has already occurred, revegetation must be embarked upon.

● Built-up areas such as buildings, car parks and industrial sites must have un-built areas, adjacent to, and between them. This will allow surface runoff to percolate down to the water table rather than inundating drainage channels and roads. Bylaws will need rewriting.

● Operation of Kokers and drainage pumps need to be synchronised with the tides. Accurate level gauges need to be installed on both the landward and seaward sides of each Koker to aid the maximisation of drainage time.

● A check of the operation of all Kokers and drainage pumps throughout the country needs to be made on a 24/7 basis.

Hinterland rivers also need to be dredged. Irresponsible alluvial mining has culminated in fastflowing rivers silting up and thus reducing their capacity to drain the land in their catchment areas. Recent flooding in the Mazaruni area is testimony of this.

● Each region needs a stock of portable pumps that can be mobilised at short notice for flooding emergencies.

● Low-lying coastal Guyana is susceptible to the vagaries of the weather and rising sea level. As a result of this, about 15% of the annual budget over the next 3-5 years needs to be voted for sea defense and drainage. If the above measures are implemented, it is estimated that about 70% of the type of flooding we recently experienced can be alleviated.