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Master plan to recover Havana Bay
IMPLEMENTATION is underway of a 20-year master plan
to decontaminate Havana Bay, including the
rehabilitation and extension of storm sewers and
drainage systems, as well as new waste water
treatment plants.
A
group of 11 experts from the Japanese international
cooperation organization
JICA
will be collaborating with Cuban experts for 18
months in a study of the bay’s watershed and
tributary basin.
During a presentation in Havana of the environmental
investment planned for work in the bay and its
basin, Harutoshi Uchida, from JICA, highlighted the
ample technical knowledge of Cuban specialists and
the data they have collected on water quality.
Cuba
began developing a clean-up strategy for the bay
some 15 years ago, including improvements to
drainage systems with adjacent treatment plants,
according to the government work group focused on
the decontamination, conservation and development of
Havana Bay.
In
collaboration with a Spanish agency, four waste
water treatment plants will be built in the city,
according to Jorge Calaf, from Havana’s Water
Resources Planning and Development office.
Roberto González, expert leader for projects and
collaboration, added that waters discharged into the
basin must not compromise the environmental health
of the bay.
Adán
Torres, director of the Havana Bay environmental
work group, said that the monitoring program which
includes regular water quality analysis at five
points in the basin has shown signs of stabilization
in important parameters, over the last three years.
He emphasized the level of dissolved oxygen and
noted that the levels of both nitrogen and
phosphorous have declined.
Since the 1980’s, he said, the condition of the bay
has changed significantly with a 60% reduction in
contamination entering its waters via rivers and
storm sewers.
Water quality has improved and a resurgence of
marine flora and fauna has been noted, although much
remains to be done, he said.
With
a surface area of five square kilometers and an
average depth of nine meters, Havana Bay’s watershed
includes the city of some 910,000 residents and
remains important to the national economy as an
industrial and commercial port. (PL)
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