Oranjestad, St. Eustatius- The Public Entity St. Eustatius has completed the first of two large retention ponds. The objective of the artificial ponds is to minimize erosion on the island. Another benefit of the ponds will be to increase the water capacity for commercial and domestic uses.

Within the Wederopbouw St. Eustatius (Rebuilding St. Eustatius) envelop special provisions were made to tackle the erosion situation near the cliffs of airport runway.

Construction on the first pond started in June 2019 and was completed during the first week of August. Work has already started on the second pond, commonly known as catchments.

The collected water will be primarily reserved for agricultural and animal husbandry purposes. The retention ponds will significantly increase the island’s water capacity mitigating the ongoing dilemma of relatively high water cost, water availability and access for local farmers and livestock owners.

In addition, the ponds will be used as a water source for the St. Eustatius National Parks (STENAPA) reforestation project which is already in execution.

This project, managed by the Directorate of Economy and Infrastructure, is collaboration between the Public Entity of St. Eustatius and the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations and is being carried out by a local contractor.