Dry at the source River Head residents battle drought as their rivers help supply Corporate Area

The rivers flowing through River Head in the cool hills of St Thomas help supply water to thousands of residents in Kingston and St Andrew. Yet people living closest to the source say there are times when they cannot get water from their own pipes.

For shopkeeper Merlene, who has spent most of her life in the community, that reality is difficult to understand.

“Is a curse and a blessing a the same time,” she told THE STAR.

River Head, located between Llandewey and Cedar Valley in the western section of the parish, sits near the Yallahs and Negro rivers waterways that form part of a system that carries water out of St Thomas and into the Mona Reservoir in St Andrew.

The system, known as the Yallahs Pipeline, was commissioned in February 1986. The National Water Commission says both rivers normally contribute more than 60 per cent of the daily inflows to the reservoir, with the remaining flows coming from the Hope River in St Andrew.

In River Head, however, Merlene said residents sometimes find themselves without piped water despite being surrounded by water sources,

“Is the same river we get water from, but sometimes when them turn the whole a it inna the dam, we caah get no water in our pipe,” she said.

With the country gripped by drought conditions, Merlene said the river has been shrinking before residents’ eyes, with little meaningful rainfall in recent weeks. The prolonged dry spell has been affecting households and farms alike.

“Nuh rain nuh fall up yah so. That’s why every farmer round here a suffer and we get knock because we nah get nuh rain,” she said.

Water and Climate Change Minister Matthew Samuda says eastern Jamaica is experiencing “what could be eventually declared our worst drought in eastern Jamaica ever”.

In River Head, when taps run dry, residents often turn to the same river that helps sustain communities miles away.

Even amid the challenges, the river remains one of the area’s biggest attractions. A section of the Yallahs River, branded the ‘Heineken River’, continues to draw visitors seeking a cool escape in the St Thomas hills, especially on weekends.

“Is a whole heap a people come up here, big bus. Some a dem all come a night-time,” she said.

“During the weekday you don’t see much people, especially since summer done, but on weekends is when yuh see a whole heap a people.”

But for farmers like David McCootie, dwindling water levels are about more than recreation. For nearly three decades, McCootie has farmed roughly half an acre of land in the hills, growing coffee and other crops. This year, however, he has watched the dry conditions take a heavy toll.