1.1.1.WATER RESOURCES Suriname is rich in hydrologic resources. Its abundance of water is considered “white gold” (Webster, 2001). Annual average rainfall in Suriname is 2,200mm or 355km3/yr in the country's territory. About 50 per cent of Suriname's annual rainfall occurs during the four months of the long wet season, while about 20 per cent occurs during the long dry season. It is considered that evapotranspiration and evaporation losses represent 49 per cent of this precipitation. Internal renewable water resources are about 88km3/yr. Suriname's major rivers flow northward into the Atlantic. In the savannah belt, average annual precipitation rates vary from 1,900 to 2,600mm. The infiltration and percolation of rainwater in this province is high, and the surface runoff is small. Average annual precipitation rates in the coastal plain vary from 1,500 to 2,500mm (Webster, 2001). Suriname has seven major streams draining toward the Atlantic Ocean. The largest are the Marowijne and Corantijn (Courantyne) rivers that form the country's borders, respectively, in the east and the west. These two rivers flow northward and drain almost 58 per cent of the country. The Coppename and the Suriname rivers also flow northward and together drain about 24 per cent of the country. The smallest rivers are the Nickerie, Saramacca and Commewijne rivers, which drain 16 per cent of the country. The final 2 per cent of the country consists of coastal areas with direct drainage into the Atlantic Ocean. The three smallest streams flow northward parallel to the ocean before they deflect westward and join with a larger river before reaching the Atlantic (Webster, 2001). Suriname does not have many fresh water lakes. Brokopondo Lake (Brokopondo Meer) was created by damming the Suriname River. It covers an area of 1,560km² and is very low in dissolved oxygen because of vegetation drowned when the reservoir was constructed. Nani Lake (Nani Meer), in the Nickerie Distrikt, is the only natural fresh water lake. Many exhausted bauxite mines have turned into small lakes. Topibo Lake (Topibo Meer) is a large red-mud lake complex at the old mining complex near Paranam (Webster, 2001). There is one hydroelectric dam in the Suriname River at Atobakka. In the past, there were plans to use part of this water for agricultural purposes.

1.1.2.WATER USE Water withdrawal in 1987 was 460 million m3, of which 6 per cent was for the domestic sector, 5 per cent for industrial purposes and the remaining 89 per cent for agriculture. Only surface water is used for agricultural purposes, while groundwater is used as drinking water because of its high quality and the relatively higher extraction cost. In urban areas, approximately 95 per cent of the population has access to running water (90 per cent by house connections) but only some 3 per cent of the population has sewerage connections. In rural areas about 70 per cent of the population has running water in the house. Typically, the sewage from individual houses in the Paramaribo area is treated by septic tanks, causing pollution problems during heavy rainfalls. The groundwater resources of Suriname are used for public supply and to a lesser extent for industry. Ninety-five per cent of the country's total supply of potable water comes from groundwater (Webster, 2001).

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