Santo Domingo.– The National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI) warned that the Rincón lagoonin the lower basin of the Yaque del Sur River, has suffered a drastic reduction in size in recent years and requires a urgent intervention to guarantee its conservation as natural heritage of the Dominican State.
The executive director of INDRHI, Olmedo Caba Romanoreported that the entity works together with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources in the preparation of a comprehensive management plan to reverse the loss of the water body and ensure its long-term sustainability.
“The Rincón lagoon is a natural heritage that we must protect and conserve. Our commitment is to guarantee its recovery through sustainable actions based on science,” said Caba Romano.
During a meeting with the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committeethe official explained that the deficit in the water balance is mainly responsible for the decrease in the body of water, which reached its most critical level in 2020when its extension was reduced to 0.29 square kilometers.
According to him, the phenomenon responds both to the effects of climate change like to the regulation of the flow of the Yaque del Sur River by the Montegrande damwhich limits the natural floods that previously fed the lagoon.
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The INDRHI proposes to complement the management plan with technical studies, including a bathymetry to measure sedimentation and real storage capacity, and the installation of a telemetry station to monitor the water level.
Meanwhile, the institution develops emergency actions to direct the flows generated by recent rains to the lagoon. Among them are the mobilization of heavy machinery to improve the taking of the Trujillo canal and the temporary closure of floodgates in the Mena channel and dam, in order to optimize the recharge of the ecosystem.
The issue has been followed up by the Ombudsman, Pablo Ulloaand representatives of neighboring communities, who participated in meetings with the INDRHI, the Ministry of the Environment and other institutions of the Water Cabinet, INAPAthe UASD and the Central Sugar Consortium.
Caba Romano reiterated that the preservation of the Rincón lagoon “is not only an institutional responsibility, but an environmental and social cause that involves the entire country.”
