Strain on Pacific islands' water supplies

Ioane Burese in Fiji Online: Pacific island countries will continually be challenged to develop and maintain a sustainable and economically viable supply of fresh water. According to a statement, the island nations have traditionally been dependant on ground and surface water as well as rainfall as their primary source of supply.

"This is still true but increased population growth, economic development and irregular rainfall caused by changing weather patterns as well as climate change have placed a tremendous strain on these traditional water supply sources," according to the SPC, Applied Geoscience and Technology Division, Deputy Director for Water and Sanitation, Marc Overmars.

"Greater attention is now being placed on holistic approaches such as Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), to optimise water supplies in the region and make more efficient use of available resources.

"But for some of the Pacific island countries the availability of freshwater resources is limited especially on atoll islands such as Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu or raised limestone islands such as Nauru," said Mr. Overmars. He said these islands were frequently affected by periods of drought, often caused by changes in Pacific Ocean temperatures.

"This results in a naturally occurring phenomena known as El Ni±o and La Ni±a. During an El Ni±o or La Ni±a, the patterns of tropical rainfall are affected and satisfying fresh water demand becomes a continuous challenge. For example, the current La Ni±a conditions are causing below normal rainfall in Kiribati and Nauru forcing the countries to put drought mitigation and response plans in place."

A recent study by SOPAC's drinking water adviser Alan Freshwater reviewed the use of desalination plants in the Pacific region as a method to supplement water supplies, such as in Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu or deployed in times of drought such as in the Marshall Islands and Tonga….

A dry lagoon on Enderbury Island, in Kiribati, shot by Cameron B. Kepler, who has released it into the public domain