DEEP OCEAN WATER RESOURCES of PETITE RIVIERE to TAMARIN, MAURITIUS

Between Petite Riviere and Tamarin on the west side of Mauritius one can find desolate windswept grasslands, cliffs of columnar basalt, white sand beaches with fringing reefs, cactus-strewn plains and hillsides, some heavily irrigated sugarcane fields, and generally clear skies... This is the "Kona Coast" of Mauritius, and is home to both the fastest developing communities as well as some of the larges expanses of unused land... It is a place of stark beauty, as seen in the sunset view of this coast from the hights of Floreal (above), and the granduer of the Black River Canyon that marks is southern boundary (below). It is also on ideal place for development of deep ocean water resources for nearly every application known.

The communities of Flic-en-Flac and Tamarin are growing rapidly, but have limited water supplies and are located in some of the hottest and driest parts of the island... Air condidioning and freshwater, anyone??? Also near Tamarin is an artisinal salt pond industry - testament enough to the kind of leeward, desert-island climate that prevails here, and would flourish with conversion of those ponds to intensive aquaculture, with cold-water agriculture developed right along side... This ideal combination is already flourishing on the Kona Coast of Hawaii today and could be easily matched with similar development on the west coast of Mauritius tomorrow. With the rapid development occurring in this part of the island, both for large hotels similar to the ones in the north and individual family housing developments just starting to sprawl, the opportunity to "build-in" a deep ocean water resource distribution system is clear...

As one moves south from Port Louis to Petite Riviere, all coastal development seems to stop just past the the Prison, which marks the bitter end of the the urban sprawl of Port Louis and the auspiciouis beginning of empty sweeps of coastal plains (shown above)... which happen to lie perhaps nearest of all other points of the island to deep ocean waters just off the shore. Could these fallow fields spring to fertility with introduction of fresh water and ColdAg??

What do YOU think???? Your input is welcomed and your comments appear below...

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