Sergio Díaz-Briquets, Casals & Associates
and Jorge F. Pérez-López, U.S. Department of Labor [1]

I. Introduction

This paper presents a preliminary look at the relationship between water, development strategies, and ecological issues in revolutionary Cuba. Using an integrated water management perspective that aims to minimize the environmental and economic disruptions associated with improper water usage, it examines Cuba's endowment of water resources and selected policies regarding their use, giving explicit attention to the degree to which the Cuban government has recognized the extent and significance of water-related development/environment interactions. The paper is our first attempt to look at these important issues and is part of broader research we are undertaking on the relationship between natural resources, economic development, and environmental quality in revolutionary Cuba. Many of the water problems we discuss antedate the revolution and were a source of concern by the 1950s. Our tentative conclusion, however, is that over the last three decades Cuba's development strategies have aggravated many of these water-related problems and created others.

The paper begins with an overview of the hydrological cycle and how natural and human interventions can disrupt its natural operation, including a brief discussion of how the integrated water management concept provides a framework that can be used to minimize the potential environmental damage that could arise from the improper use of this natural resource. Next, the paper assesses the determinants of water availability in Cuba. This is followed by a discussion of selected agricultural and water policies instituted by the Cuban authorities, and an evaluation of their environmental and economic consequences.

II. The Hydrological Cycle and Integrated Water management

Munasinghe (1992:34-40) provides a useful summary of how the natural hydrological process is affected by human intervention. Two premises underlie his analysis. One is that the satisfaction of man's water needs demands that the natural environment be altered. The second is that once water is used, it must be returned to the natural ecosystem. How water is returned to the environment has important consequences. It could contribute to the lasting use of water and other renewable resources, or the degradation of the natural resource base. Mishandling water supplies can also have detrimental consequences for a myriad human activities.

The hydrological cycle encompasses "a number of atmospheric, surface, and underground sub-cycles of different magnitude where water moves from and between the air, the vegetation, the soil, the solid rock, and the rivers, lakes and seas" (Munasinghe, 1992:35). The cycle is interactive, with every phase affected by the others. Precipitation rates are partly determined by evapotranspiration, or the process whereby water is returned to the atmosphere. Evapotranspiration depends on the vegetation's capacity to retain water; the ability of water to infiltrate different types of soils; the effect that the capillary action of the soil has on evaporation; and the amount of water that plants transpire through their leaves.

Water that filtrates underground accumulates and may result in a water table that rises to the surface as the amount of water percolating downwards increases. When water deposits are large in porous rock, an aquifer is created. Water moves within the aquifers depending on the permeability of the rock and other factors. Lakes, springs and rivers are formed in places where the water table meets the land surface. The way in which water flows and how it is stored depends on geographical and morphological features, including the surface vegetation and other landscape cover.

There are many points at which humans can intervene in the hydrological cycle. The care with which these interventions are managed, and the efforts made to ensure the renewability and preservation of water resources, to a great extent determines the long-term viability of the intervention, and the sustainability of the economic uses of water and other natural resources. Policies that permit the short-term exploitation of water resources at social, economic and/or environmental costs are ill-advised. These policies could bring about long-term, or even irreversible, environmental damage.

The objective of integrated water resource management is to minimize the environmental and economic disruptions associated with improper water usage. It depends on the careful calibration of selected policy instruments that balance national development objectives, the preservation of the resource, and competing demands and interactions among different water users. It involves the careful study of the hydrological system and how it is affected by man-made disruptions. Integrated water resource management is concerned with the promotion of freshwater sustainability by a careful assessment of the interplay between water supply and demand (Munasinghe, 1992:28-30).

III. Determinants of Water Availability and Quality in Cuba

As a sub-tropical nation, Cuba receives an abundant amount of rainfall. Cuba's mean annual precipitation, according to long-term observations, amounts to 1,410 millimeters (Egorov and Luege, 1967:15). The abundant rainfall only partially translates into a steady supply of freshwater, however. Major seasonal and cyclical rainfall fluctuations and the country's geographic features give way to periods of overabundance of water followed by periods of water shortage. The frequency and intensity of hurricanes has a major bearing on seasonal and secular fluctuations in rainfall.

With marked wet and dry seasons, the monthly rainfall ratio (the ratio of the wettest to the driest month recorded in millimeters of precipitation) may be as low as 8:1 (Table 1). In some years, the monthly rainfall ratio may be as high as 15:1, and in extreme cases (as in 1989), higher than 20:1. On average, rainfall between November and April, the dry season months, ranges between 32-99 mm per month, while during the rainy season it fluctuates between 200-260 mm (Egorov and Luege, 1967:15).

Annual rainfall fluctuations are equally substantial, with the volume of rainwater varying from year to year by as much as 30 to 40 percent (Table 2). During the 1970s and 1980s, the annual average amount of rainfall was about 1330 and 1160 mm, respectively. Whereas in 1980 Cuba's mean precipitation was 1,434 mm, in 1981 it dropped to 1005 mm (70 percent of 1980 volume) and to 937 mm in 1986 (65 percent of 1980 volume).

Regional fluctuations in mean precipitation are notable as well. Mean annual rainfall ranges from 3,000 mm in the mountainous region of Northeast Cuba, to under 600 mm in the semi-desert Southeastern coastal region found between the Sierra Maestra mountain range and the Caribbean sea. As a general rule, rainfall tends to be relatively more abundant in the Western and Central plain regions than in the Eastern plains, and most abundant of all in the mountain ranges.

Cuba's elongated and narrow shape, insular character, and extensive coastline (2,306 miles or 3,735 kilometers) accentuate the cycles of water overabundance and water scarcity. Most rivers flow from the center of the country to either the Northern or Southern coasts, and rainwater reaches the seas within at most a few hours (Report of Cuba, 1976:59). Watersheds are geographically limited, with a majority of rivers having a short course. The mean length of all major Cuban rivers is only 58 miles (93 kilometers). The Cauto river, the country's longest and most voluminous, has a length of 228 miles (370 kilometers), the Sagua la Grande and Zaza about 100 miles, and all other rivers run for less than 100 miles (Table 3). Due to the short course of the rivers, and the rapidity with which rainfall reaches the sea, much rainfall cannot be captured by aquifers. Comparable problems have been reported in Indonesia, a country that shares many of Cuba's geographical features. For example, Java's watersheds are described as extremely shallow, with most of its rivers less than 50 kilometers long. These characteristics, together with deforestation and rural development, are responsible for rapid runoff and increased river flow variability (World Bank, 1990:79).

Eighty percent of the total flow of Cuban rivers occurs during the rainy season (Osterling, 1985:67). In the dry season, many of the rivers and hundreds of streams experience a complete loss of water flow. In some parts of the country, the nature of the soils contributes to rapid runoff due to their limited permeability. On the other hand, in low-lying coastal areas, often at or below sea level, flooding is a persistent problem. In many parts of the country, flooding is a serious concern during periods of intense rain and the hurricane season.

Two other factors contribute to rapid rainwater loss: high temperatures and prevailing wind patterns. A high evapotranspiration rate is associated with the country's tropical climate. The mean annual temperature is 25.5 degrees centigrade (Osterling, 1985:69). Monthly mean temperatures only fluctuate within a narrow band (from 22.5 degrees centigrade in the coldest month, January, to 27.8 degrees centigrade in the hottest month, August). Mean annual evaporation experimentally measured from a free water surface amounts to 1,995 mm, ranging from over 2,000 mm in the rainy season to about a 1,000 mm in the dry season (Report on Cuba, 1976:47; González and Gagua, 1979:29). The pattern of persistent winds prevailing in most of Cuba further contributes to high evaporation rates. Less is known about evapotranspiration rates, but some of the highest are believed to occur in the Cauto river watershed due to the combined effects of high temperatures and persistent winds. These high water losses promote the salinization of the soil by drawing to the surface underground waters that leave behind mineral deposits as they evaporate into the atmosphere (Egorov and Luege, 1967:15).

A major man-made contributor to rainwater loss is the extensive deforestation to which Cuba has been subjected since colonial times. Tropical soils' capacity to retain water is impaired when the natural forest cover is lost. Forests also contribute to the reduction of evapotranspiration rates. One of the most direct consequences of deforestation is an intensification of the runoff rate, with a consequent detrimental impact on soil conservation. Whereas in 1812, 90 percent of Cuba was forested, by 1975 this percent had declined to 18 percent (Instituto Cubano de Geodesia y Cartografía, 1978:40). By the mid-1970s, forested areas were mostly confined to the least inaccessible and inhospitable mountainous and swampy coastal regions. The last three decades have seen considerable reforestation efforts, but how much has been accomplished is open to debate (Espino, 1993:331).

The abundant annual rainfall contributes to the replenishment of the country's aquifers. However, water capacity in Cuba's aquifers varies greatly as does the quality of their waters (Academia de Ciencias de Cuba/Academia de Ciencias de la URSS, 1970:13-13 and 22-23). Geographically, the country's richest aquifers are concentrated in two regions. The first includes the aquifers running throughout much of the carsick soils (suelos cársicos de fisura) of Western Cuba, from Pinar del Río province to much of Matanzas province (except for the Zapata swamp), and into Northern Villa Clara province. The second is located in the concentration of carsick soils extending through most of Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Avila provinces, and parts of Camagüey and Las Tunas provinces. Carsick soils are found in more than 60 percent of Cuba's land surface (Dos requisitos, 1982:79).

Water-rich, carsick aquifers can easily become contaminated. This is especially so in aquifers lacking surface areas capable of containing the filtration of pollutants (González Báez and Jiménez Hechevarría, 1988a:6). Contaminants spread swiftly in carsick aquifers since they allow a rapid displacement of underground waters (González Báez and Jiménez Hechevarría, 1988b:24). This feature of carsick soils is a serious problem in Cuba, since many of the country's principal aquifers are located in carsick soils along coastal areas, prone to be infiltrated by salt water.

The regions most poorly endowed with underground water resources are Pinar del Río province in Western-most Cuba; Ciego de Avila province and the bulk of Sancti Spíritus province in Central Cuba; and the Eastern-most provinces of Granma, Holguín, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. Cuba's mountain ranges are primarily located in these regions with relatively poor endowment of underground water; the country's geographical pattern of alternating mountain ranges and plains contributes to the replenishment of the aquifers in the plains, since they receive part of the rainwater flow from the precipitation in the mountain regions (Egorov and Luege, 1967:14).

There is enormous variation in the mineral content of Cuba's underground waters. Waters are classified according to their mineral content expressed in grams per liter of water (Egorov and Luege, 1967:9). Waters with one gram or less of minerals per liter of water are adequate for all human and agricultural uses; those with mineral content up to 3 grams per liter may also be used for human consumption, in the absence of water with lower mineral content and for watering livestock; those with mineral content 3-10 grams per liter are not suitable for human consumption, though they may be used for livestock; waters with mineral content 10-50 grams per liter or even higher are unfit for human (other than for medicinal purposes) or agricultural use. In Cuba, the supply of water with low mineral content is deemed to be abundant in the carsick aquifers, but less so in regions with clay soils or soils with limited permeability.

The same is true for coastal regions. In coastal regions of Southwestern Cuba, the Zapata swamp, and the Northern coasts of Sancti Spíritus and Ciego de Avila provinces, the aquifers' mineral content tends to be high. In some of these regions, deposits of low-mineral content water suitable for human and agricultural use are found above stores of marine water (Egorov and Luege, 1967:9). This makes the danger of excessive salinization of coastal region aquifers high, a danger made more immediate by flood-prone soils that are often at or below sea level. The aquifers in the Cauto river watershed area, with a limited capacity to hold underground water stores, already have a heavy mineral load.

From an international perspective, Cuba's renewable water resources of 3.34 thousand cubic meters per capita in 1975 were about half the world average of 7.69 thousand cubic meters per capita and well below the average for North and Central America (16.26 thousand cubic meters) and South America (34.96 thousand cubic meters). Cuba's relatively limited freshwater availability per capita is similar to that of other major Caribbean islands (2.79 in the Dominican Republic; 1.69 in Haiti, and 3.29 in Jamaica) (World Resources Institute, 1992:328).

Where Cuba differed from the other large Caribbean island-nations, at least up to the mid-1970s, was with respect to the rate at which freshwater resources were withdrawn. In Cuba, as in most island-nations not receiving freshwater flows from neighboring countries, annual withdrawal of freshwater resources is calculated as a percentage using as a base internal renewable resources, exclusive of evaporative losses (World Resources Institute, 1992:334). In 1975, Cuba was withdrawing an estimated 23 percent of its freshwater resources annually (8.10 cubic kilometers), as compared to 15 percent in the Dominican Republic (in 1987), 4 percent in Jamaica (1975), and less than one percent in Haiti (1987). Only water-poor Barbados (in 1962) withdrew water at a higher rate than Cuba, 51 percent. The per capita volume of water withdrawal in Cuba in 1975 (868 cubic meters) was nearly twice as high as that of the Dominican Republic (453 cubic meters), and from five to twenty times as high as in the other island nations (46 and 157 cubic meters in Haiti and Jamaica, respectively). At the time, 89 percent of the freshwater withdrawn in Cuba was dedicated to agricultural uses, 9 percent for domestic use, and the balance to industrial use. In 1990, the annual water withdrawal had increased to 12.7 cubic kilometers, or to 1,200 cubic meters per capita, with 74 percent of the water being used for agriculture, 12 percent for domestic use, and 14 percent for industrial use (Espino, 1993:332). By 1982 it was already apparent that important economic regions of the country such as the provinces of Havana, Ciudad Habana, and Ciego de Avila were at or about a point at which water demand exceeded the supply. In three rice cultivation regions in the provinces of Pinar del Río, Camagüey, and Granma, underground water demand was already excessive (Administración, 1982:35).

IV. Water Resources Management in Cuba

Active involvement in the management of water resources by Cuba's revolutionary government began in 1962 with the creation of the Institute of Hydraulic Resources (Instituto Nacional de Recursos Hidraúlicos, INRH) (Administración, 1988:31). The management of water resources went into high gear in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the implementation of an ambitious agricultural development program aimed at increasing output of sugar cane and other water-intensive agricultural products (MacEwan, 1981:98-99), and the supply of water for human and industrial use. In 1977, Cuba established an Institute of Hydroeconomy (Instituto de Hidroeconomía), within the Ministry of Construction, to coordinate the development and administration of water projects involving other government agencies, such as the Ministry of the Sugar Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Local Organs of People's Power (with regard to household consumption of water).

Central Planning and Water Pricing Issues

Cuba's seemingly inexhaustible demand for water is, in part, the result of its system of central planning. Under a central planning system, resources are allocated on the basis of a central physical plan rather than on their price (cost). That is, central planners determine a priori the volume of water that will be required to meet demand (from agriculture, household use, industrial plants, etc.) and command other branches of the economy to provide the required volumes, without explicitly taking into account the cost of obtaining and delivering the water to the user. The central planning system is also largely oblivious to environmental externalities. State enterprises are not held accountable for environmental cost or handle them through soft budget constraints cushioned by the central government (Dávalos, 1984a, 1984b, 1984c, and 1984d).

At least through the early 1980s, water was a free commodity in Cuba (Report of Cuba, 1976:56). Writing in 1982, the President of the Institute of Hydroeconomy (Dorticós, 1982: 13 and 18) argued for the institution during the 1981-85 five-year plan of a system that would set a price for water, and charge state enterprises that used water for what they consumed. Such a system would promote conservation and more efficient use of the resource. He further argued for the ability of water providers and users to enter into contractual relationships, subject to the commercial code and the national system of commercial arbitration, to ensure that users actually paid for the water they consumed.

The five-year plan for the period 1981-85 (Lineamientos, 1981:73) had as an objective the "adoption of measures to attain and guarantee the more rational use and conservation of water resources, whether surface or underground," but there is no evidence that a water pricing system was introduced during this period. The plan for the period 1986-90 (Lineamientos, 1986:50) was even more cryptic than its predecessor on water pricing, calling instead for "preserving and controlling the quality of surface and underground waters, achieving their rational use, and increasing their conservation and recycling (reutilización)."

Water Demand and Supply Issues

As mentioned above, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Cuba embarked on an ambitious irrigation program that has relied heavily on: 1) developing a network of water storage areas through a major dam reservoir construction program; and 2) increasing the extraction rate of underground water. The water storage areas were also designed for the artificial recharge of aquifers since there was concern about the high rates at which water was being withdrawn from underground stores. The irrigation strategy was intended to increase production of the country's export mainstay --sugar cane-- and also to boost the cultivation of other products, prominently among them citrus and rice. The planned major expansions in the output of these three crops, all prodigious users of fresh water, could only be sustained with additional water supplies, particularly during the dry season.[2]

Expanding the agricultural land surface under irrigation was a development priority during the 1970s, but even more so during the 1980s. According to a source, by 1985, 220,182 caballerías (2.95 million hectares) were irrigated (exclusive of land planted with rice), more than a quarter of Cuba's agricultural land (Analizan la situación, 1985:3). In relation to 1983, the amount of land irrigated in 1985 was 40 percent higher. If true, this would constitute a remarkable achievement in just two years.[3] Expanding the irrigated area demanded the investment of hundreds of millions of pesos in equipment, machinery and wells. The 1986-90 Cuba-USSR cooperation agreement alone assigned 40 million rubles for the expansion of the national irrigation system.

Since the 1970s, the demand for water has mushroomed with the growth of the country's system of urban aqueducts; an estimated 74.1 percent of dwellings had access to running water in 1980 compared to 54.5 percent in 1953 (Rodríguez and Carriazo Moreno, 1987:141). Also taxing water resources were the establishment or expansion of mining operations (e.g., nickel) and industrial plants (e.g., cement) that are heavy water users and contaminate the environment. These development initiatives have further strained Cuba's freshwater resource availability with potential long-term economic and ecological consequences.

To satisfy the increasing demand for water, an extensive dam construction program has been implemented. Increasing water availability in man-made reservoirs was consistent with the mobilization of resources to meet production targets and minimize water shortages during the dry season. The dam construction strategy was also consistent with Fidel Castro's personalistic style of government and the weight of his views in the country's development policies. The role of Castro in the country's water development policies --as in so many other national issues-- should not be underestimated, since in 1962 he asked "that not a single drop of water be lost, that not a drop of water reach the sea...that not a single stream or river not be dammed" (El paisaje, 1982:52). Damming Cuba's rivers and mobilizing the country's water resources became a national priority. Castro's wishes began to be translated into reality with the initiation in 1962 of an extensive Soviet water-related technical assistance program (with heavy Bulgarian input). In the fifteen year period between 1976 and 1990, it was projected that Cuba would invest between 10.4 and 16.8 billion pesos in hydraulic works (Report of Cuba, 1976:57). By 1992, Cuba had 200 dams and close to 800 microdams (COMARNA, 1992:16).

Whether or not the current water freshwater withdrawal rate is higher than the 23 percent reported in 1975 cannot be determined with exactitude, but it would seem that the withdrawal rate must have declined as a result of the increase in the amount of water being held in artificial reservoirs. The dam and water reservoir construction program increased the stored water capacity from 48 million cubic meters in 1959 to 7,000 million cubic meters in 1987, or by a factor of nearly 150 (Editorial, 1988). This enormous gross gain in reservoir capacity, however, would have to be evaluated against the potential decline in the volume of water being held in aquifers, despite reported artificial recharge efforts. Underground water losses could be anticipated as a result of the diversion of surface and underground water sources from aquifers to man-made reservoirs, and also from the contamination of freshwater aquifers by sea water. To this may be added further underground water losses associated with the increasing extraction of aquifer stores for irrigation and other uses.

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