THE Pomeroon/Supenaam region is "severely affected" by the current dry weather, Drainage and Irrigation Coordinator, Mr. Farukh Khan said yesterday.

For about a month now, the administration in the region (Region Two) has been pumping water from the Pomeroon River into canals to irrigate predominantly rice cultivated land.
"We do not have enough water in the conservancies," Khan told the Chronicle.

The Essequibo coastline, which makes up most of Region Two, has three water conservancies - Ituribisi, Johanna Cecelia/ Perseverance and Tapakuma. The last sources its water from the Capoey and Mainstay lakes.

Khan said that for more than a month now, two pumps at Dawa, a branch of the Pomeroon River, have been pumping water into the Tapakuma conservancy.

However, he said the water level is not enough to flow into the rice lands and so farmers are left with no other option than to pump water into their fields.

Another pump, Khan said, was put into operation at Manikuru to transfer water from the Pomeroon into the main supply canal that services some villages from Andrews to Somerset/Berks.

He said that while the dry weather persists, the region is "trying its best" to minimise the impact for farmers who depend on the farmlands, especially rice, for their livelihood.

In Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne), another agricultural district, the impact of low rainfall during this usually rainy period has not yet been assessed, Chairman of the Regional Democratic Council, Mr. Rohit Persaud said.

He and officials from the region are to meet today with the chairmen of all the region's Neighbourhood Democratic Councils at Tarlogie, Corentyne to determine how the district has been affected.

On Thursday, Region Three Chairman, Mr. Esau Dookie reported that the Boerasirie Conservancy on the East Bank Essequibo has reached a "dangerously low" level because of the dry weather.

Senior Meteorological Technician, Mrs. Lisa Farnum-Ramjoo told the Chronicle that for the usually wet December, rainfall amounted to 87.7 millimetres, about 34 per cent of what was expected.

In addition, the Georgetown Sewerage and Water Commissioners has drawn up a four-point contingency plan to deal with the continuing dry weather.

The Hyrometeorological Service has indicated that dry weather is expected to prevail throughout all 10 regions of the country up to January 10.

For the rest of January, moderately dry weather is predicted for Regions One (Barima/Waini), Two, Five (Mahaica/Berbice) and Six, while moderately wet weather is the forecast for the others.

For February, dry weather is expected to occur in Regions Four (Demerara/Mahaica), Five, Six and Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo), while the others can expect moderately dry weather.

For March, the Hydrometeorological Service stated that Regions One to Six will be dry, while Regions Seven to 10 will be moderately dry.