Field Meeting inthe Clarendon Plains,Jamaica

JAMAICA GROUP

25 March 1956

Report by the Director: S. A. G. TAYLOR

Received 2 November 1956

THE A1M of this meeting was to demonstrate to members the progress thathas been made in the development of the underground water resources ofthe Clarendon Plains, and especially the Mid-Clarendon Irrigation Scheme.

Twenty members and friends assembled in front of the Carib Theatre,Kingston, and proceeded to the office of the Mid-Clarendon IrrigationScheme at Osborne Store, where they inspected a relief-map of the area andits water-shed, which made it clear why a large volume of undergroundwater passes beneath the Plains.

From Osborne Store the party proceeded to St. Toolies where they sawthe intake on the Milk River, and the Milk River No.2 Well delivering2,000,000 gallons of water a day into the system. They then walked alongthe canal and saw the St. Toolies No. 2 and St. Toolies No. I Wellsdelivering 4,000,000 and 3,000,000 gallons a day, respectively, into thesystem. They continued to St. Toolies No.3, which was started-up for thebenefit of members. This borehole, in which alSO h.p. motor and deep-wellpump is installed, discharged a flow of 7,000,000 gallons a day.

The party then had lunch and proceeded to the St. Jago Well, which isequipped with a 200 h.p. motor and deep-well pump capable of delivering5,000,000 gallons a day into the old Milk River canal system, when pump­ing against a head of 130 feet.

From St. Jago the party drove to York Pen and saw a 24-inch boreholewell being drilled to supply a new area with water for irrigation. At thetime of the visit the boring had reached a depth of 430 feet. After passingthrough 80 feet of recent alluvium and 220 feet of dense marine clays, theborehole had struck limestone rock at 300 feet. It was expected that themain aquifer would be struck at 500 feet. This borehole penetrates theburied valley.

Unfortunately, at this point heavy rain began to fall, and, as a result, itwas necessary to abandon the visit to the ruins of the dam at Raymonds.Three and a half inches of rain fell in two hours, causing some members toask the Director why he considered it necessary to drill hundreds of feetunderground when there was so much water on the surface. They were

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assured that this surface water was unusual. The party then stopped at theCockpit Pumping Station and was shown over the works by Mr. HaroldArcher, Irrigation Engineer of the West Indies Sugar Company. On theirway home they passed the springs of the Cockpit River which are inter­cepted by a low-levelcanal leading to the Pumping Station.