Climate Resilience of the Water Sector in Grenada (G-CREWS)

Project description

Title: Climate-Resilient Water Sector in Grenada (G-CREWS)
Commissioned by: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU); Co-financed by the Green Climate Fund
Country: Grenada
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Public Utilities, Energy, Transport and Implementation
Overall term: 2019 to 2025

Context

Water is a scarce resource in Grenada and climate change has already begun to aggravate the problem with an increasing average temperature and more erratic rainfall. More frequent heavy rainfall events make water supply outages more common due to high turbidity in the raw water supply. Due to the sea level rising, saltwater intrusion in coastal groundwater aquifers will further reduce the availability of freshwater in the future. Not only is the supply of drinking water to the population affected, but also the growth of the Grenadian economy, mainly in the agriculture and the tourism sectors. 

Objective

The systemic climate change resilience in Grenada’s water sector is increased, and the water sector is managed more efficiently. 

Aerial view of Grand Etang lake_ by Marion Geiss

Approach

The project supports the water sector’s comprehensive transformation on multiple levels and aims to improve Grenada’s overall resilience. This approach involves citizens and businesses as water users and the public sector as the provider of potable water and infrastructure. Through appropriate governance, regulation, economic incentives and awareness raising, behavioural changes will be triggered. 

The National Water and Sewerage Authority (NAWASA), responsible for the drinking water supply of approximately 112,000 citizens and the several hundred thousand tourists coming to Grenada each year, will improve their services through the installation of enhanced water supply systems and modern procedures in operation and maintenance. 

The project will be developed in the five components: 

  • Climate resilient water governance
  • Climate-resilient water users
  • Climate-resilient water supply system
  • Additional contributions of the water sector to Grenada’s climate goals
  • Regional learning and replication

Results

Envisioned impact

All citizens of Grenada inclusive of the agricultural and commercial sectors will benefit from better water supply services, especially in times of drought and after extreme weather events.

  • With the set-up of a Water Resource Management Unit, Grenada strengthens the overall water governance of the tri-island state and will set out the conditions for sustainable water resource management.
  • The Grenada Development Bank will set up and administer a Challenge Fund that assists grant recipients in agriculture and tourism to integrate water saving measures into their daily businesses.
  • Through infrastructure improvement and the supply of additional storage tanks, Grenada will ensure that water supply is stabilised even throughout increasing droughts or disaster.
  • To increase the efficiency of the water supply system, thereby reducing water losses in the distribution system.
  • The financeable viability of the water service structure will be supported by bringing the running costs, such as electricity costs down, by exploring and implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.
  • The project supports Grenada in becoming a regional front runner for climate-resilient water management. Other Caribbean countries will benefit from the constant sharing of success stories and lessons learnd from the G-CREWS project.

Additional information