Fresh Water



Waiwai meaning wealth in Hawaiian is made from doubling the root word wai or fresh water. (See the Hawaiian Dictionary, Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert.)
 
“Water is Gold,” stated a participant in the Pacific Islands regional assessment on the potential consequences of climate variability and change in the 1998 workshop [8].


Fresh water is a valuable resource to Pacific Islanders [2], crucial for sustaining all aspects of life. Many of the Pacific Islands, especially small islands and atolls, have limited water supplies [2, 1, 6, 5] as they are dependent upon limited surface water catchments and are vulnerable to droughts [2, 1, 6].

Changes and variations in climate, especially in relation to rainfall patterns, will significantly impact fresh water supplies [6, 4, 3]. Reduced rainfall typically leads to a reduction in the amount of water in rivers and catchment tanks [7]. It also leads to a slower rate of recharge of the freshwater lens, which can result in prolonged drought impacts. ENSO events cause a large variation of ground fresh water salinity over the time-scale of several years [10]. In low-lying and small islands, sea level

rise aggravates the problem and can result in a reduction of island size, thereby reducing the thickness of the freshwater lens. At the other end of the spectrum, increased rainfall beyond island-specific thresholds will likely result in increased flooding, which can cause pollutants to enter the aquifer recharge zones of islands and contaminate drinking water supplies. Scarcity of fresh water has wide impacts across all sectors, particularly in livelihood, agriculture [11], health, and economic development.

El Niño Sign in Pohnpei. Source: NOAA National Weather Service Pacific Region, 1998. The public awareness campaign sign located on the main public roadway in Kolonia, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia warned about the impending El Nino drought and resulted in water resources conservation, water treatment, and decreased disease incidence.

A resident fills water containers in Ebeye, Marshall Islands. Source Angel Santiago, FEMA News Photo, April 3, 1998


Actions that island communities can take to secure their fresh water resources include:

  • learn climate news and information (see weblinks);

  • work with climatologists and officers from climate-related programs to improve climate forecasts that will provide early warning for droughts, floods, and storms;

  • augment water resources by increasing wells and distribution lines and developing more water storage capacity;

  • revise building codes to increase opportunities for rainwater catchment and storage;

  • ensure maintenance of water system to prevent leakages;

  • engage in watershed management to protect the water resources throughout the system;

  • explore traditional water resource management practices for contributions to current integrated resource management [9];

  • explore new technologies, such as water harvesting, reuse of wastewater and desalination, to increase water resources, even for landscaping and non-drinking purposes;

  • increase public awareness to promote water conservation;

  • assess and improve the water supply system; and,

  • improve incentives and regulatory measures to ensure water conservation.

  

The dependency on rainfall significantly increases the vulnerability of small islands to future changes in distribution of rainfall. For example, model projections suggest that a 10% reduction in average rainfall by 2050 is likely to correspond to a 20% reduction in the size of the freshwater lens on Tarawa Atoll, Kiribati. Less rainfall coupled with accelerated sea-level rise would compound this threat. Studies conducted on Bonriki Island in Tarawa, Kiribati, showed that a 50 cm rise in sea level accompanied by a reduction in rainfall of 25% would reduce the freshwater lens by 65% [6]. Increases in sea level may also shift water tables close to or above the surface,resulting in increased evapotranspiration, thus diminishing the resource [6]. At 80% of normal rainfall, Majuro enacts water restriction measures and provide access to water only three days per week (see Stakeholder Dialogue on Marshall Islands).

 


A young lady on Majuro, Marshall Islands, uses a rope and bucket attached to a pole to retrieve water from a newly dug well. Source: Angel Santiago, FEMA News Photo, April 3, 1998.

 

 


Small coral island showing main features of fresh water lens (exaggerated vertical scale) 
Source: Falkland in Burns 2002 [1].

 

References


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