Haiti's water supply problems aren't unique on Planet Earth. There are water shortages in most areas of the world, especially in poor countries. Developed countries need to improve the technology of improving water quality and increasing water supplies so not only will their underprivileged areas benefit, but so will other parts of the world.
The impoverished Caribbean island nation of Haiti has one of more severe public water supply shortages in the Western Hemisphere.In rural areas, water production facilities have fallen into disrepair and distribution systems are weak and leaky. Those near water supplies get water intermittently, and those near the "tail-end" of distribution pipes generally get no water at all. Urban water supplies operate intermittently, too.
The main government institutions responsible for Haiti's water supply are the CAMEP (Centrale Autonome Métropolitaine d’Eau Potable), responsible for the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area, and SNEP (Service National d’Eau Potable), responsible for secondary cities and, in theory, for rural areas. Both agencies have lost skilled workers to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and donor agencies, primarily due to low government pay.
NGOs play a large role in providing water supplies, especially in rural and secondary-city settings. Municipal governments play almost no role in water supply now, but that is expected to change under a national water supply plan currently being developed.
Hundreds of water committees throughout Haiti are supposed to manage and maintain local water supplies. Each water committee is charged with developing local resources in concert with the community; collecting revenues regularly; hiring a plumber to make minor repairs; and so on. Some committees perform their duties well, but many fall far short. All water committees operate completely autonomously. There is no national registry or regulation of water committees, and no associations of water committee boards.
The national Ministry of Public Works is reduced to a reactive role, providing interventions when local and state water supply entities fail to do their jobs. The Ministry is pushing a plan that would bring greater coordination and accountability to all water and sanitation projects in Haiti.
Foreign aid to Haiti dried up in the early and late 1990s, and so did expansion of the nation's water supplies. External aid picked up again after the demise of ruler Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004, but it is concentrated on the water supplies of outlying towns and rural areas. The woefully inadequate water supply of the main metropolitan area goes unresolved.
The current government led by Rene Preval is considering the formation of regional water service providers that would replace CAMEP and SNEP. The Ministry of Public Works hopes to create a water services directorate that will coordinate and intervene in the often haphazard efforts of NGOs and donor agencies, and focus more effort on Port-au-Prince’s water supply.
The cost of water is generally charged on a flat monthly basis, due to the lack of metering infrastructure. Rates range from about one dollar per month in the interior plateau region to $7.30 per month near the capitol. Revenues barely cover operating expenses at this time, leaving little capital for expansion and modernization of water supply infrastructure. SNEP must often enforce revenue collections by cutting off customers, but just as often those customers reconnect themselves illegally.
Haiti is a poor nation struggling to develop even a stable government, let alone an effective, comprehensive water and sanitation system. It remains to be seen whether the Preval government's dreams of an improved water supply will be realized.
Haiti's water supply problems are just one indication of the bigger water supply problems around the world. Be proactive and conserve water now so water resources aren't stressed and depleted. It's going to take more than water conservation to fix the water shortage on the planet, but it's a good start.
