Page 30 - IB March 2021

Water Water

Collecting water in Marshall Islands. Photo: SPC

WATER WOES

THE FINE LINE BETWEEN TOLERANCE AND RESILIENCE

By Samantha Magick this month stated the world is not on track to meet this goal.
Similarly, the Asian Water Development Outlook 2020 report
This month the world learnt of the plight of Banabans, who raises concerns on several fronts. It states eight Pacific ADB
had been living without fresh water for a year according to members are still in the ‘nascent’ stage when it comes to
residents. economic water security (i.e. water to sustainably satisfy eco-
A social media post from an overseas-based Banaban gave a nomic growth), and that the Pacific is lagging when it comes
stark insight into the dire water shortages, and rallied support to urban water security.
for the island’s estimated 12,000 inhabitants. Within days, the “Some countries perform well (e.g. Palau and the Cook
Kiribati government dispatched bottled water, a desalination Islands)” the report states. “But other countries score rather
plant, water tanks and cement to repair existing but damaged low. The Pacific lags behind other regions in Asia, mainly due
water tanks. to the geographic location and limited financial means. Of
One elder, Roubena Ritata told Pacnews it is a long-standing particular concern is the low water security in Papua New
problem. “This water crisis goes back years and yet we do not Guinea and Federated States of Micronesia.”
have a permanent solution. While we are thankful, we are The report says while the Pacific is scoring well in terms
calling for an ambitious rehabilitation plan for Banaba which of environmental water security and shows resilience in
has been devastated by 80 years of mining.” water-related disaster security, “Progress during 2013-2020
Yet the water shortages on Banaba are far from an isolated is somewhat disappointing. Priority actions for governance
situation. Approximately 45% of all Pacific Islanders live improvement in the Pacific are financing, managing trade-offs
without access to basic drinking water facilities, and approxi- and monitoring and evaluation.”
mately 70% don’t have access to basic sanitation. That’s the David Hebblethwaite, the Water Security and Governance
highest rate (as a proportion of population) of any region in Coordinator at the Pacific Community (SPC) says while the
the world. Some Pacific Islanders are living on close to the numbers are alarming in terms of Pacific Islanders’ access to
SPHERE standard, the minimum required fresh water needed water and sanitation, our region faces many other complex
for human survival, or what would fill a large biscuit bucket, and complicating issues.
per person per day. “We are the most disaster impacted region in the world
Access to clean water and sanitation is Sustainable Develop- and 75% of our disasters are hydro-meteorological disasters,
ment Goal (SDG) number 6, which aims to achieve (a)univer- they’re related to water in some way,” he says.
sal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water “The water cycle in our small island communities is really
for all, (b)adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for small,” he continues. “We’re talking harvesting rainwater, and
all and an end to open defecation, (c)improved water quality, of course that can go in and out of drought really quickly, but
(d)substantially increased water-use efficiency, and (e)protec- also using groundwater that is so easily impacted by land use.
tion and restoration of water-related ecosystems, amongst “So even the countries that against the SDG goals are do-
other aspirations. ing pretty well compared to some of the other Pacific Island
However a United Nations/UN Water update report released countries, they still have some really significant challenges

30 Islands Business, March 2021