Jamaica’s worsening water stress is a direct constraint on national economic growth and development. As of October, the National Water Commission (NWC) reported that 107 monitored supply systems were severely impacted by drought.
Hermitage Dam stood at 40.2 per cent and the Mona Reservoir at 33.7 per cent. National daily production stands at roughly 188 million gallons, down 11 million gallons.
This recurring crisis demonstrates that water security is not simply a question of rainfall, but of reliability, storage, smart water distribution, and climate resilience.
In a climate-variable reality, sustained economic growth cannot occur without a guaranteed water supply. True resilience lies in recognising the nexus where water security, energy security and food security intersect. These three pillars form the backbone of national development. When drought threatens agricultural output, food inflation rises and rural livelihoods stall; when shortages disrupt education, commerce, and manufacturing, productivity falls. Securing Jamaica’s future therefore requires an integrated strategy that addresses all three.
SECURING EXISTING
GREEN ASSETS
Equally fundamental is protecting and restoring Jamaica’s upper watersheds and forest reserves. Healthy forested watersheds act as natural infrastructure, regulating streamflow, recharging aquifers, and preventing reservoir siltation. Unchecked deforestation and watershed degradation accelerate river depletion and exacerbate flash flooding during extreme weather events.
Safeguarding the Blue and John Crow Mountains, Cockpit Country, and upper river basins is not merely an environmental obligation; it is Jamaica’s first and most cost-effective defence for preserving freshwater supplies.
The first priority must be a diversified water portfolio. Desalination should be assessed alongside watershed protection, groundwater management, reservoir expansion, rainwater harvesting, wastewater reuse, and brackish water treatment. The climate-change research agenda has previously identified wastewater reuse as a potentially climate-smart alternative and highlighted the need to investigate solar-powered desalination, particularly in areas affected by saline intrusion.
WATER USE HIERARCHY
A core misstep in water planning is treating all water demand as equal. High-cost, highly treated potable water is used for applications that do not require drinking-grade purity, particularly irrigation, industrial cooling, and landscaping. Using municipal drinking water for these needs is economically inefficient and environmentally unsustainable.
Jamaica must transition to a “fit-for-purpose” water hierarchy. High-value potable water should be reserved for human consumption and strict commercial health standards, while agricultural and industrial sectors are supplied through lower-cost, appropriately treated non-potable sources, including reclaimed wastewater and treated brackish water.
This is where strategic desalination enters the national equation, as a high-reliability component of a diversified portfolio. In August, the government confirmed that feasibility studies were being conducted for desalination projects in St Thomas and Clarendon.
These proposals are being evaluated alongside renewable solar power and pumped-hydro storage, targeting engineering in 2027 and procurement in 2028. The government has also acknowledged that nationwide desalination would be expensive and could carry environmental consequences. The appropriate question is therefore not whether Jamaica should desalinate, but where, when, and under what conditions it provides the greatest resilience benefit.
SCALING BEST PRACTICES
Because Seawater Reverse Osmosis (SWRO) requires substantial energy for high-pressure pumping, pairing desalination with abundant, low-cost renewable generation addresses its primary financial and environmental constraint. Jamaica should benchmark its strategy against global best practices:
• Israel’s circular economy: Israel produces vast volumes of desalinated water for domestic use while reclaiming over 85 per cent of municipal wastewater for agricultural irrigation. This provides farmers with steady water while protecting drinking-water reservoirs.
• Singapore’s fit-for-purpose infrastructure: Through NEWater and dedicated industrial water networks, Singapore supplies specialised non-potable water directly to manufacturing hubs and cooling towers, relieving pressure on primary drinking-water supplies.
• Australia’s grid-integrated desalination: Australia uses renewable-powered desalination plants that scale production during peak solar generation, providing drought-proof supply to agricultural and urban corridors.
Jamaica already possesses a local proof of concept. In 2016, the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Rockfort Power Station commissioned a thermal desalination unit using seawater from Kingston Harbour and waste engine heat, producing over 30,000 litres of purified process water daily. While large-scale public utilities require SWRO technology, Rockfort demonstrated that integrating water production with energy infrastructure can yield operational savings.
However, producing additional water through desalination or any other technology will yield limited returns if distribution systems remain compromised. Regional experience offers clear warnings. The Bahamas relies on desalination for roughly 81 per cent of its water supply, while Antigua and Barbuda continues to expand SWRO capacity. Yet, as the World Bank notes in Barbados, where nearly half of produced water is lost to leaks before reaching consumers, production alone cannot overcome systemic infrastructure failure. For Jamaica, desalinating seawater while allowing treated water to escape through leaking pipes and unmetered connections represents an unacceptable waste of capital and energy.
LET’S DO THIS RIGHT
Accelerating the NWC’s drive to reduce non-revenue water (NRW) from 70 per cent to 30 per cent, alongside regional interconnectivity pipelines, remains a strict prerequisite.
To ensure long-term returns, a national desalination programme must operate under a rigorous, transparent suitability framework. Proposed sites must be evaluated based on localised water stress, agricultural and industrial demand, proximity to existing grid and pipeline networks, marine ecosystem impacts, and opportunities for co-location with renewable energy. Marine baseline assessments and brine dispersion modelling must precede any capital deployment.
The objective is to construct an unshakeable foundation for economic resilience. By harmonising strategic desalination with natural watershed protection, aggressive leak reduction, wastewater reuse, and renewable energy, Jamaica can lock in the strategic convergence of water, energy and food security, ensuring that climate variability no longer dictates the pace of national growth.
Raymond Pryce, chief operating officer of EnviroTek Group
