GEO Haiti 2010

State of the Environment Report 2010
Figure 39: Map on the Access to Potable water
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Source: UTSIG, 2004
The disparity in the spatial national distribution of
the needs in regard to water is no small matter.
Communities in the Artibonite, Central and
Grande Anse Provinces, with rare exceptions,
have higher overall water necessities than in the
North, Northwest and Northeast provinces as well
as those in the South, Southeast and the West
(Figure 39). The UNICEF/WHO study on water
policy in Haiti points out to an increase in demand
from now to 2050, a valid estimate if based on the
projections that the Haitian population would
increase to 16,149,000 by 2050 (IHSI, 2008). This
spatial deficiency seems in correlation with the
national variations in rainfall (see figure below).
Hydro resource management could be viewed
from the perspective of the watersheds which
constitute the Haitian main hydrographic units.
Upstream, the protection of these watersheds
results vital, in particular because of their role
as catchment areas. Their bareness only results
in a strongly sedimentary torrential rainfall
likely to affect the equipment and services
of the adjoining areas including deviation
services for the irrigation of plains, as these,
during periods of drought, become so low
that the rivers disappear downstream, with
tremendous consequences for the residents
of these areas.