Hydrologist Javier Dinten Fernandez of Rijkswaterstaat has returned to Saba for a two-week working visit to support the initial implementation of the Rainwater Management and Erosion Control Plan. Javier previously contributed to the development of the plan during his traineeship with Rijkswaterstaat, working closely with local stakeholders to assess the island’s unique water management challenges and opportunities.

A key component of the project is knowledge transfer and local capacity building. Throughout the visit, local staff are receiving hands-on training in the installation, operation, and maintenance of monitoring equipment and erosion control measures, helping to build local expertise for future monitoring and implementation efforts.

As part of the project, monitoring equipment is being installed at several locations, including time-lapse cameras and a rainwater runoff sensor in the Fort Bay gut. The equipment will collect valuable information on how rainwater moves across the landscape during heavy rainfall events.

This information will help identify opportunities to slow runoff, reduce erosion, and improve water infiltration. Retaining more rainwater in the landscape allows water to soak into the ground rather than flow rapidly downhill, supporting vegetation, reducing soil loss, and contributing to the replenishment of groundwater resources that play an important role in Saba’s long-term water security.

In collaboration with the ongoing reforestation project, small barriers are also being tested at a pilot location to slow runoff, capture sediment, and improve water infiltration around newly planted trees. These pilot measures will help evaluate practical solutions that may be expanded to other areas of the island in the future.

The project supports the objectives outlined in the Nature and Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP) and Saba’s upcoming Climate Plan, both of which identify improved rainwater retention, erosion control, environmental monitoring, and ecosystem restoration as priorities for the island’s sustainable future.