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1,200 acres rice lost
EDWC halts release of water into Mahaica Creek
By Leonard Gildarie
Authorities were expected to stop releasing waters into the Mahaica Creek from the East Demerara Water Conservancy (EDWC) yesterday as continuous rains over the past few days eased.
And the Boerasirie Conservancy, in the West Demerara area, rose to alarming levels yesterday morning and sent engineers of the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA) and Minister of Agriculture, Robert Persaud, rushing in the area early to assess the situation.
The level was 62.4GD, way above the 61.3 full supply level and was inches below the crown dam that separates the conservancy from thousands of acres of farmlands and the residents of West Demerara.
The level of the Boerasirie Conservancy yesterday was at a dangerous level
At the EDWC, the situation is still hugely worrying with levels standing at 58.7GD at 14:00hrs, way above the 57.5GD on Tuesday. The height of the Conservancy Dam is 59GD.
According to the Ministry, the levels of the EDWC over the past 72 hours have been decreasing and “consequently a decision has been taken to stop (the) controlled release of excess water via the Lama and Maduni sluices into the Mahaica Creek.”
The EDWC will continue releasing excess water into the Demerara River at Kofi, Land of Canaan five Door and Cunia Sluices, the release said.
On the East Coast of Demerara, residents reported dropping water levels brought on by the rains.
Chief Executive Officer of the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Paul Bhim, also reported that production had stopped and that there was no harvesting for the past few days.
According to the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB), just under 20,000 acres of rice has been threatened by rains with almost 1,200 acres affected.
“With the onset of the present La Nina conditions the rice harvesting was always under some threat. It is common knowledge that harvesting of the first crop commences in March and peak by the second week of April,” a GRDB official explained.
“The present rains are seriously affecting the progress of this harvest, by causing some delays. To-date we have approximately 19,993 acres that are threatened and 1,144 acres affected.”
Reports by some media houses that 35,000 acres have been affected are not true, the official said. Yesterday, Persaud, Minister of Local Government, Kellawan Lall, and several regional officials met to make strategic interventions to assist in improving the accessibility of dams, among other things, for the harvesting of paddy.
Several farmers are now being assisted with fuel to help pump water and according to the Ministry, it is examining ways to assist affected farmers.
It was pointed out that Guyana is experiencing more rains than before and that the investments in improving drainage structures are paying off as nowhere was there any serious flooding.
At Flagstaff at the EDWC, behind Cane Grove, water from the conservancy was seeping onto the land, indications of the high level which officials said rose early yesterday but was receding.
Authorities would be hoping for the rains to stop for a few days to help reduce the levels.
On Monday, the Agriculture Ministry announced that it was being forced to release waters into the Mahaica Creek as a last resort.
It was a decision that would have worried Government, farmers and residents on the East Coast Demerara. The 2005 floods which devastated the East Coast of Demerara was blamed on waters from the EDWC being released into the Mahaica Creek which overflowed the banks.
At Cane Grove, residents reported some rice losses with long time farmer, Deolall Deokie, losing around 16 acres. His losses are estimated at around $2.5M.
Yesterday, the farmer was busy attempting to rescue a few acres.
“Whatever I save, I save. I got to try because if the water increases then we lose everything.” Dams in the area were almost impassable with Deokie using one tractor to tow another to bring out his paddy.
One farmer lost almost 90 acres.
On the East Coast while some lands were still under inches of water, areas like Enmore, Paradise, Haslington and Better Hope said that water was draining off “fast”.
Several pumps, according to the Ministry have been deployed with GuySuCo assets being put to use.
Authorities have said that recent showers are part of the La Nina conditions with the rainy season already over. La Nina, a weather phenomenon associated with rains, started last August with February month levels already surpassing the long term averages.
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