Roseau Valley Irrigation & Infrastructure Project – Phase II
OverviewPhase II of the Roseau Irrigation Infrastructure began late in September 2003. All works that could be done independently of the Roseau Reservoir Project under the SFA 2000 Grant Contract were completed towards the end of December in the same year. Upon completion of the Roseau Reservoir, the remaining offfarm infrastructure, which includes the filter and pumping stations, was installed, with the completion of the entire project in March 2006. The delay in completion was due to the late start of the works on the Roseau Reservoir and the subsequent delays in the completion of that reservoir. This phase provided irrigation for thirty-eight (38) farms in the Roseau Valley with a network of 4.5kms of pipes and stayed within the working budget managed by the BIT of EC$1.4 million.
The farmers’ support during the project implementation stage was heartening. This support was primarily due to their very good working relationship with Mr Quint Odlum, the Agricultural Officer assigned to supervise the project. Because of the experience gained on the other projects, the quality of supervision was of a very high standard and Mr. Odlum was able to identify issues of concern well in advance.
A number of checklist templates for the different components of the implementation were prepared by the IMU to assist the Agricultural Officer.
The construction of the Roseau Valley Reservoir Project
Once again, the EU has made a provision that has improved the livelihoods of many in rural communities. In a joint venture contract awarded to Hippolyte Equipment Services Ltd. & Phoenix Construction Co. Ltd. of Saint Lucia, EC$5.8 million was allocated through the SFA 2000 Programme managed by the BIT to implement a 75,000m³ Reservoir (approx. 18 million gallons) with an intake dam.
The limited water resources in the Roseau River made it difficult to irrigate 320 acres of land during a day’s irrigation cycle. In order to facilitate the irrigation process, a 75,000m³ reservoir (on 10 acres) was therefore constructed within the project area. Six (6) pumps were installed on the reservoir and irrigated water was pressured through the network of approximately 10km of pipes of varying sizes (400mm to 63mm) to provide water on a daily basis to the sixty-six (66) farms in the project area. The system of choice was the drip irrigation system for the practical and impending benefits it posed to the farmers and the surrounding environment.
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As a result of the late acquisition of the reservoir lands, these works did not commence until early January 2004. However, due to adverse weather conditions and other factors during the construction period, the project was finally completed in March 2006.
The Roseau Reservoir entailed three major components. The Intake Dam on the Roseau River, a 2.8 kilometer pipeline from the intake to the resevoir and the 75,000 cubic meters (approx. 16 million gallons) reservoir within the farming area.
Supervision on all the project was provided by the Irrigation Management Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Technical Support Services by the Agri Development Inc.
Roseau Valley Drainage Project
The drainage works in Roseau commenced in August 2003 and included the widening and de- silting of 34km of drains and the replacement of eleven (11) and repairs to ten (10) culverts over 350 acres. These works were completed by December 2003.
The Roseau Valley drainage involved the improvement of the drainage network in the valley and included a combination of drainage and drainage infrastructure works. It commenced on 7th August 2003 and was due to be completed by December of that same year. However, due to the increased scope of work, the timelines for the project were extended to facilitate additional infrastructural works.
All drainage works were completed within the time frame of the contract. It must be noted that most of the farmers were very supportive and appreciative of the project to the extent that the amount allocated for crop compensation was used to undertake additional drainage works in the valley, particularly in Morne D’or.
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The drainage contract was awarded to Phoenix and Hippolyte – a joint venture – and cost EC$1.2 million. The project was very well supervised and from all reports there was a very good working relationship with the contractors and IMU officers on the ground. The complete project entailed:
- Surface drainage for road and major infrastructure which included innovative designs to address surface water and land drainage
- Outfall and pollution control assessment of the impact of flooding and minimization of flood risk
- The provision of solutions that minimize the effect on and reduce the maintenance of receiving environments
- Legislative approval for culverts, bridges and viaducts
- Surface water attenuation design
- Design of vegetated pollution control systems.
Using the latest developments in the industry, economical, effective drainage solutions were developed for the Roseau Valley area.
