CARIWIN's Purpose in the Pilot Communities
CARIWIN’s goal is to increase the capacity of Caribbean countries to deliver sustainable and equitable integrated water resources management (IWRM). In order to achieve the goal of IWRM in the Caribbean, CARIWIN proposes to strengthen the CIMH (located in Barbados), a regional organization whose mandate is to provide training and capacity development in climatology and water management to CARICOM member states.
Through CIMH, CARIWIN will pilot capacity building initiatives in IWRM, aimed at national, local government, and community levels in Grenada (Great River), Guyana (St. Cuthbert's mission), and Jamaica (Mile Gully/Warwick Castle). CARIWIN has the potential to make a long-term contribution to poverty reduction, gender equality, improved governance and local ownership, better health through safe water provision and enhanced environmental sustainability through more effective water management.
Over the first two years of the project, pilot sites in the partner countries of Grenada and Guyana have been upgraded with automated hydrological and meteorological instrumentation to record continuous data. These sites have also been used for training technicians on the use of modern field instrumentation as a part of practical training courses. Installation of instrumentation at the pilot site in Jamaica is ongoing; a rainfall intensity gauge was installed in 2009, while the installation of a streamflow gauge is expected to be completed in 2010.
Through CARIWIN activities and linked student research, the pilot sites are expected to provide valuable information to help decision-makers invest in upgrading the countries' existing hydrological and meteorological monitoring systems. Lessons learned are expected to be incorporated in other components of the CARIWIN project, including the National Water Information System and Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network .