St Lucia - UNDPCC.org

Saint Lucia: Issues Paper on Climate Change Adaptation & the Water Sector April 20094.0 Key issues in Assessing Investment and Financial FlowsIn assessing investment and financial flows when dealing with climate change adaptationin the water sector a number of issues need to be considered. Water ResourceManagement encompasses a wide range of sectors and is impacted by areas such asagriculture, forestry, urban environment, reservoir development, wetlands, groundwaterreserves. Some of the major issues which must be considered are as follows:1. Inadequate Natural and Water Resource Management.2. Water Resource Availability and Quality – There is a water supply deficit islandwide based on the supply and demand of the various water systems. This isparticularly acute in the dry season. Poor raw & treated water quality is an issue insome areas. It is necessary to assess the impact of agricultural intensification as wellas deforestation on water quality and availability. Soil erosion, land degradation,sedimentation, poor land drainage, uncontrolled rural development, are issuesthat require consideration.3. Current State of the Water Sector i.e. Investments required to ensure thesustainability of the sector with normal variability and no climate change.Currently the Water Supply Infrastructure is inadequate.4. Inadequate Data availability – Current & Historic Rainfall, Stream Flow, Runoff,Water Demand & Supply.5. Absence of Implemented the Water & Land Use Policy as it relates to WaterResource Management.6. Inadequate Institutional and Regulatory Capacity.7. The extent to which non action in relation to the water sector investments willexacerbate the climate change impacts.8. How does one apportion the adaptation costs to climate change.It is clear that climate change will have impacts on the availability of water for thepotable water supply. Even without the effects of climate change and variability there aresignificant challenges to the sector. It should be noted that the First NationalCommunication [FNC] was based on expert judgment and included a situational analysisof the sector. It did not contain detailed analyses based on scenario generation andmodeling of climate change conditions and impacts. The Second NationalCommunication is currently ongoing and the Vulnerability and Adaptation componentwhich has not yet been untaken is expected to produce a more detailed data collectionand analysis of the sector resulting in scenario generation and a quantitativedetermination of the vulnerabilities and associated costs of adaptation.Page | 10