Reservoir levels continue dropping in Cuban central-eastern province

CAMAGUEY, Cuba, May 16 (ACN) With only 21.5 % of their total capacity, the 54 reservoirs in the province of Camagüey, the one with the largest hydraulic infrastructure in Cuba, continue to decrease, a situation caused by the severe drought affecting the territory and the consequent shortage of rainfall.

At present, only 11 reservoirs accumulate volumes above half of their total storage, three of them for the supply of water to the population, although the capital city is currently receiving the service from the pumping station of the Cuban-Bulgarian Friendship Dam, with a 12% filling level, until the work on the construction site of the Maximo dam is completed.

Up to the first fortnight of May, the rainfall deficit is evident in Camagüey with the report of 280 millimeters since the beginning of the current year, according to Luis Mane, specialist in Water Resources Management of the Provincial Company of Hydraulic Development, confirmed to the Cuban News Agency.

In general, all the municipalities of this demarcation are affected by the severe drought, although Esmeralda, Florida, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes and Santa Cruz del Sur have the worst accumulated rainfall below 20% of the annual historical average, he said.

In view of the perspective of a wet period with deficit in rainfall, authorities of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources in the territory urge to increase saving measures along with the alternatives implemented to guarantee water supply for economic and social tasks.

Forecasts by the Meteorological Institute on its website estimate that by May 2023, rainfall will be within the norm in the western and central regions, and below normal in the eastern zone.