Teodoro Tejada proposes urgent measures in response to the water crisis caused by drought
The former deputy director of the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI), Teodoro Tejada, has made an urgent call to the Dominican authorities to implement preventive strategies in the face of the current drinking water crisis. Given the decrease in rainfall, the expert emphasized the need to anticipate drought scenarios, using the water difficulties currently being experienced in Puerto Rico as a reference.
Although previous reports from 2026 indicated a favorable technical reserve in the National Dam System, Tejada warned that maximum capacity figures can be misleading due to sediment accumulation. According to the engineer, this accumulation drastically reduces the actual volume of water available for human consumption and agricultural production.
Priority: Dredging of the Valdesia dam
One of the critical points highlighted by the former official is the imperative need to dredge the Valdesia dam. This infrastructure is vital for the supply of Greater Santo Domingo, Baní, and San Cristóbal, so ensuring its storage capacity is a matter of national water security.
Maintaining the storage capacity of dams is fundamental to facing prolonged periods of drought and reducing the risks of an eventual drinking water crisis.
Teodoro Tejada, former deputy director of INDRHI
Suggested strategic actions
- Sedimentation control: Implement a permanent national plan to prevent reservoirs from losing effective capacity.
- Reforestation of the Nizao River: Protecting the upper Nizao basin is essential, as this tributary is the main source that supplies four of the most important dams in the country.
- Climate change planning: Given the intensity of natural phenomena, the country must strengthen its capacity for response and water resource management.
Tejada, who also presided over the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors (CODIA), recalled that the protection of watersheds is not only an environmental measure, but a survival strategy against extreme climate variations which, according to historical records, have become more frequent and intense.
