Haiti - Environment : Saut d'Eau falls, risk of drying up !
To Haut Saut d'Eau, origin of the three sources, that feed the falls of the natural site of Saut d'Eau, it is the general alarm. The source Kaara, from where the water flowed from all sides, is for about 6 months, reduced to its simplest expression, "If the falls came to disappear, if the drying up of sources, was final, Saut d'Eau should change its name or no longer exist. As its name symbolizes water," explains the Senator Dieuseul Simon Desras, President of the Senate and native to the region. The two falls of Saut d'Eau draw since 1948, date of the appearance of the Virgin according to popular legend, more than 20,000 visitors per year.
The causes of this drying up are multiple, among others, above the falls, on the whole hill, the peasants do not stop down trees illegally to produce charcoal, causing a drying of soils, others point the global warming or a undetected fault underground...
Given the urgency, Dieuseul Simon Desras and the Senator Francisco De la Cruz, also from the Central Plateau, initiated with the support of the Minustah, a community forum in the Department of Centre on Thursday, March 14 on the problem of drying up of water sources feeding the falls. In addition to the objective of raising awareness about this issue, this Forum aims among others to generate a constructive debate on environmental issues related to drying up, in order to initiate a collective awareness, and obtain a commitment official and citizens to identify an action plan for short, medium and long term interventions.
For its part, the Government of Haiti has begun consultations with the authorities and the population of Saut d'Eau in the Central Plateau to find a solution that threatens the environment and the economic development of the region.
