The Importance of the Karst

            The karst regions consist of rugged volcanic rock that been dissolved by water over the years.  There are two karstic regions in Puerto Rico, one in the north and a smaller one in the south.  Together these two regions and the water aquifers that reside underground provide more than one third of the island’s water to its inhabitants. The limestone rock areas of the regions have many geological features: “haystack” hills, sinkholes, limestone cliffs and underground caves and rivers.  Rainwater seeps through the soil into the aquifer which feeds other bodies of water on its way to the ocean, especially in the north.

Karstic region, Arecibo.

            This video is a small shot of the underground northern aquifer in Arecibo.  The news clip talks about the importance of the aquifers water and the karstic region. This link is from the archives of the television station WAPA.

            Abel Vale Nieves has been working to preserve the karstic region for many years.  He is the president of Citizens of the Karst, a nonprofit organization that works to protect and conserve the natural resources of the karst region. 

            According to him, over 500,000 people receive their drinking water directly from the karstic aquifer in the northern region.  That number doesn’t include wells that receive water from the karst and the mountains together, and he believes that at least 500,000 gallons of water are used from the karst region alone each day, without exaggeration.

            However, it’s not only the general population that relies on this region for it’s water — many pharmaceutical and industrial companies and agricultural farms are located in the area as well, for the single reason that the water quality is very high the deeper into the aquifer you go.  If this is contaminated, people’s jobs, health and nature will be affected.

            Vale Nieves said he feels the pipeline will do more damage than it will bring benefits and agrees with others that although natural gas may be cheaper to use the proposed route of the pipeline is a grave concern.

            “We feel that they (the government) are trying to build a pipeline through areas that are very sensitive,” he said, adding that the government would have to bore holes through the ground using compounds that are known water contaminants."

            “And because water is very important for all life — including humans and in the case of Puerto Rico where we have such a huge density of population per square mile — we cannot play with our water resources.”

            Below is the link to an edited interview with Vale Nieves, where he talks about his feelings regarding the proposed pipeline and the impact it will have on the region.

            La Sociedad Espeleologica de Puerto Rico is a nonprofit group dedicated to the exploration, documentation, study, conservation and protection of the islands caves, caverns and sinkholes.  The Puerto Rico Encyclopedia also has more information on the karst region and its aquifers.