Basseterre, St. Kitts (MoPIEUDT NEWS) – On Thursday, December 4, 2025, Minister of Public Infrastructure, Energy, Utilities, Domestic Transport, Information, Communications, Technology and Post, Hon. Konris Maynard, fielded questions on water management from Freedom FM’s Jamiella McPhail, while presenting an update on the state of water management in St. Kitts on the radio station’s Issues program.
Minister Maynard, supported by the Water Services Department’s Chief Engineer Mikhail Isaac and Plant Supervisor Francis Zelaya, explained the process of desalination and the operations of the newly constructed Basseterre Desalination Plant, whose commissioning is expected to occur at an unspecified time in the upcoming weeks.
Addressing why the Ministry turned to desalination to bridge the water supply gap in Basseterre, Minister Maynard explained that increasing the daily intake from the Basseterre Valley aquifer beyond the safe yield estimate of 2.5 million gallons per day could subject the source to saltwater intrusion – a possibility which he said could be exacerbated by reduced rainfall and rising sea levels.
He also explained that the unconfined nature of the Basseterre aquifer makes new drilling in Basseterre risky because it could lower overall water levels and increase the possibility of saltwater intrusion from overextraction.
Additionally, Minister Maynard noted that proposals to capture surface water that flows to the sea during heavy rainfall would be more costly than desalination and would still depend on unpredictable rain patterns, unlike the reliability and constant availability of seawater.
“The solution is finding a consistent source of water; desalination offers that.”
– Hon. Konris Maynard
As the country eyes the commissioning of the Basseterre Desalination Plant for its promise to restore 24-hour water supply to Basseterre and the surrounding areas, the Water Services Department’s multipronged approach, that includes the drilling of additional wells in the northern parts of the island, continues to provide hope that a solution to the existing supply problems is in view.
