HAVANA, Cuba.- Cuba’s capacity to store water increased 200 times during a period of 40 years thanks to the expansion of the National Hydraulic Commitment Program created in 1963, according to specialists in Havana.

The plan has been directed to reduce the impact of intense rains and conserve the liquid for human consumption, agriculture and industry, according to a Report by Cuba to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The volume accumulated up until 2010 were 9.6 billion cubic meters in a hydraulic infrastructure of 239 dams including micro reservoirs, canals and for the protection against flooding, pumping stations and dikes, reports the document distributed to the press.

The National Information Statistics Office reveals that in 1997 with the creation of the National Hydrographic Basin Council, a new style of the country´s environmental work began considering the ecosystem as a basic unit for the evaluation of integral management.

The text recalls that the Cuban report on the Millennium Objective Goals (2009) indicate that the access of the population to improved sources of water reached 94.5 percent with a drainage coverage of 96.6 percent.

It adds that the fact reaffirms the compliance with Objective 7 of the Millennium Goals and that there is a program for the protection of water in the country, whose main objective is to stop and revert the deterioration of its quality and increase its availability.

The strategy in that direction, says the island´s report to the Rio + 20 Summit includes sustainable balances of distribution, increase the forest coverage in controled areas and water regulation strips.

Ines Maria Chapman, President of the National Hydraulic Resources Institute mentioned that they are still not satisfied with the fact that not all areas are covered despite having over 10 million people on the island receive the precious liquid through pipes.