KINGSTON, Jamaica — Thousands of residential and commercial customers relying on the Constant Spring water distribution network across Kingston and St. Andrew will soon regain full, uninterrupted water access, after Jamaica’s National Water Commission (NWC) announced it will roll back emergency supply restrictions starting Wednesday, April 8, 2026.
The policy shift comes after two consecutive weeks of consistent, widespread rainfall across the island’s catchment areas, which has reversed months of declining water reserves at the critical Hermitage Dam. Prior to the rainy spell, storage levels at the dam had dipped below 65 percent, forcing the NWC to implement rolling outages and targeted supply cuts to prevent a total depletion of reserves. Steady inflows over the past fortnight have pushed storage volumes up to roughly 90 percent of total capacity, creating enough of a buffer to resume standard service.
In an official media statement published this week, NWC’s Acting Vice President for Operations Herman Fagan emphasized that the decision to relax restrictions honors the commission’s public promise to restore normal service as soon as hydrological conditions improved. “This adjustment is not just a response to recent rainfall—it’s a commitment we made to the public that we would act quickly when conditions allowed,” Fagan explained. “The improved inflows have given us the operational buffer we need to return to regular 24-hour supply for all customers connected to the Constant Spring system.”
While welcoming the end of restrictions, Fagan urged all customers to maintain long-term water stewardship habits to reduce the risk of renewed shortages during the upcoming dry season. Key recommended practices include routine water conservation, immediate reporting of broken infrastructure to NWC teams, and prompt repairs to leaks on private property, which account for a significant share of unaccounted-for water loss across the island.
The NWC added that it will maintain continuous real-time monitoring of dam storage levels and inflow rates through the coming months. If precipitation drops off sharply and reserves decline again during the projected dry period, the commission did not rule out reintroducing targeted supply restrictions to protect reliable water access for all communities across the service area.