WSRN S-Barbados will increase water security via the installation of photovoltaic solar and backup natural gas power for pumping stations, while implementing climate resilience actions in the water sector, including through a water sector master plan, enhancing infiltration, and by reducing non-revenue water and improving overall water management. An adaptation fund, set up with operational cost savings from implementing the renewable energy activities, will provide credit lines to implement water conservation actions, whilst other activities will build public awareness to achieve more sustainable water usage.

Within this project there are provisions for intricate collaboration among key educational institutions that have contributed to the development of the water sector of Barbados. With these institutions working together, this is the BWA, University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (UWI-CHC) and University of South Florida (USF), it is anticipated that a sharing platform will be developed that will incubate the generation of novel ideas in the effort to combat the impact of climate change and also to propel the discussion on climate change adaptation and mitigation. This project proposes to gather the relevant human resources from these institutions and form a team of scientists and engineers to drive the in-depth operational research to build capacity. This is to aim to realize innovative measures to ensure that the knowledge gaps, (with respect to integrated energy-water management that reduces impact of Climate Change in the Caribbean region), that are discovered can be filled though south-to-south learning initiatives. It is advantageous in some aspect that Barbados has the highest Human Development Index in the Caribbean. In this manner, Barbados can serve as a brilliant example to be a model for south-to-south cooperation for the rest of the Caribbean in these water sector initiatives. In this regard, the dissemination of knowledge would not only be at the employee level with practical and theoretical training; but must also ensure that the various stakeholders are involved in the knowledge strengthening. In this manner it is only then possible to ensure that there is a behavioral change that this project also seeks to have as an impact on the local community of Barbados. The proposed capacity building component will train persons in energy efficiency, water loss reduction, resilience response programme, and rainwater harvesting. Additionally, it will organize education/outreach activities and deliver via seminars and workshops to communities and government agencies as well as foster research for use in informing development. Of these initiatives it is important that the documentation of the project progress be a resource that everyone who is interest can access due to the valuable information that can be contained in the document.

Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) Barbados Water Authority (BWA)