The country has six hydrographic regions with 97 main basins and 556 secondary basins. Together, they offer an availability of 19.4 million cubic meters of water. (1).

The actual supply lies in the storage capacity of dams and reservoirs and in the extraction of groundwater. There are 34 dams in the country, of which 26 are classified as large, five are for hydroelectric production, 12 are for irrigation, 15 for multiple purposes and two for mining waste. The water storage capacity by region, in terms of reservoirs, is led by Yaque del Norte, with 823 mm of storage capacity.³followed by Yaque del Sur, with 560 mm³Yuna, with 556 mm³ and Ozama-Nizao, with 363 mm³.

Water is a resource that must be protected in an integral manner, which means that society, institutions, agencies and governments have a role to play in its care, so protecting water is an optimal alternative for sustainability and the common benefit of the inhabitants.

Bibliographical References:

(1) Lizardo, M. and R. Guzmán (2004). Coordination of fiscal and environmental policies in the Dominican Republic.. Santiago de Chile: ECLAC.