THE WATER Resources Authority (WRA) yesterday gave details on the rising lakes in Moneague, St. Ann and Harmons, Manchester, which have submerged several homes and inconvenienced hundreds.
Water has been rising in both communities since mid-2005. Several residents have been forced to evacuate their homes. The rising lake in Moneague has turned into something of a tourist attraction, with crowds flocking to the area on a daily basis to look at the water.
But the WRA confirmed yesterday, at a press briefing held in Mona, St. Andrew, that this was not the first time that the lakes in both communities have risen.
According to Herbert Thomas of the WRA, Moneague has experienced 12 similar events in the past 200 years. The more recent occurred in 1979, 1986, 1993 and 2002. This time around, about 415 acres are covered with water. Twelve houses have been submerged and the maximum depth is 36 feet. Mr. Thomas said that up to Monday, the water was rising at .04 feet per day.
SIMILAR FLOODING
Lawrence Barrett, also of the WRA, made a presentation on the flooding in the Harmons community in Manchester. He said that community experienced similar flooding in 1916, 1933 and 2002. Mr. Barrett noted that although the water may soon reach its peak, it was still rising at less than one inch per day. He estimated that the water would not recede for another five and a half months.
Mr. Barrett recommended that the area be zoned into residential and non-residential areas when the water recedes.
EXCAVATION CLAIM
Many affected residents claimed that the flooding was due to excavation being carried out in both areas by mining companies. But Basil Fernandez, managing director of the WRA, dismissed those claims. "Bauxite mining only started in Jamaica in 1959 and as the records show, the areas were experiencing this kind of thing long before that. The mining has not contributed in any way to the flooding in Harmons or Moneague," he stressed.
Mr. Fernandez said the WRA would continue to monitor the lakes in both communities and would be quick to pass along all new information to the public.
