Central Cuba Facing Worst Drought In 40 Years

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HOLGUIN, Cuba - (KRT) - "The ochre-colored field that once produced tender corn, beans and yucca for Rogelio Maura's family is sun-parched and barren. Withered pastures and cracked fields extend for miles across the eastern Cuban province of Holguin and into neighboring Las Tunas and Camaguey.

Born and raised in this arid pocket of Cuba's heartland, Maura, 63, is accustomed to coaxing vegetables from the thirsty earth. But this year he has already lost two harvests to the region's worst drought in 40 years, and there is no relief in sight.

The region's cattle and sugar industries are seriously damaged by drought, and a long, hot summer lies ahead. Half of the 10,000 wells in Holguin province are dry, as are two of three reservoirs that serve the dusty, provincial capital, also named Holguin. Construction crews are racing to finish a $6 million pipeline that will draw water from Cuba's largest river, the Cauto, to the city before the remaining reservoir dries up in late August. The pipeline should help restore running water to most of Holguin city, the fourth largest city in Cuba, with about 200,000 people.

To stave off the effects of the drought, Cuba's government has also added more than 60 water delivery trucks to the existing 40 that used to serve the city. Ten new water-pumping stations were created to supplement the two that existed in the city, and the government dug 100 new wells, some of which have since dried up. But many of these emergency measures will not benefit farmers in outlying areas."

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http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/world/9253093.htm