A new water information system for St Kitts and Nevis

Climate change is making the effective management of water resources more challenging globally. Water, essential for day to day life, is also critical for agriculture, industry, energy production, and environmental conservation on St Kitts and Nevis. Effective management of water resources requires accurate information on water availability, quality, and usage. But existing data collection and management systems lacked integration, making it difficult for stakeholders to obtain a complete understanding of water resources and their use.

To address this information gap, HR Wallingford developed a national Water Information System (WIS) for St Kitts and Nevis that responds to stakeholder needs and requirements. 

This was achieved by generating national consensus and support for the WIS. To maximise buy-in to the new system, we identified and assessed existing capabilities, data sources and gaps, and the needs of partners. We looked at how data was being produced, how it was managed and processed, how it was being used and which entities had access to the information. We also considered appropriate levels of access, conditionality, reporting and dissemination. These were tailored to the specific requirement and priorities identified within St Kitts and Nevis.

The WIS itself is a web-based data management, visualisation and mapping application hosted in the Cloud. The website facilitates the management of users, organisations and locations where data are collected, as well as the datasets themselves. Time-series data can be uploaded, analysed with interactive graphing tools, compared with other datasets, converted to alternative units of measurement, and downloaded for further analysis and reporting offline.

The website is administered by the Department of the Environment, but other government agencies on St Kitts and Nevis have access in order to upload and manage their datasets and share access to them. This flexibility in data control empowers and encourages ongoing data management via distributed responsibility.

The St Kitts and Nevis Water Information System provides an objective basis for discussion, negotiation, decision-making and action assessment, as well as for coordinating financing from funding sources.

More specifically, the WIS will support a range of water planning and management business functions in St Kitts and Nevis, helping to deliver a secure water future for the region.