Rains begin to improve the situation of the dams

SANTIAGO. The rains that have been falling since last Sunday on some of the locales in the Cibao region have begun to improve the levels of the reservoirs at the Bao, Lopez-Angostura and Tavera dams.

Engineer Hector Jaquez, the operations and maintenance manager for the Water and Sewer Corporation of Santiago (CORAASAN), expressed his confidence and hope that the rains continue falling over the next 45 days so that the reservoirs reach the desired levels.

At the present time, Coraasan has a deficit of some 30 to 45,000,000 gallons of water a day, since the population demands some 134,000,000 gallons and they are barely processing between 90 and 110,000,000 gallons.

In order to be able to use water to supply the aqueducts, the reservoirs behind the dams should be at the327.5 above sea level. However at the present time these reservoirs are measured between the 311.6 and 313.7 levels above sea level.

Given the precariousness of the water supply, Coraasan implemented a program called "free water" with several tank trucks to deliver water to families where water service is not available.

Each year, there are periods of drought which not only affect farm activities but also the supply of water for the communities in the Cibao Valley.