| Water quality protection in Barbados is provided by means of a zoning policy defined on bacteriological travel-times, based on matrix groundwater flow; and without consideration of neither: surface/subsurface water karstic-hydrology-dynamics (which characterise the island of Barbados), nor chemical pollution-transport and -fate in surface water, which is the main source of groundwater recharge for the island. This thesis explores the institutional frameworks, as well as the physical data necessary to implement the use of a spatial, tightly-coupled Decision Support System for water quality protection and management in Barbados. While a technical DSS application is provided for demonstration purposes, focus is placed on the imminent importance of establishing a National Spatial Data Infrastructure, and on the necessary enhancement of institutional frameworks to meet the requirements for a DSS implementation at the national level. It is concluded that under current institutional and data quality, availability/accessibility conditions such an endeavour will not be possible.;Keywords: Spatial Decision Support System, IWRM, WARMF, Barbados, Hydrological modeling of Karst Terrain, NSDI, data accessibility, DEM. |
