Page 31 - IB March 2021

Water Water

Banabans have been without water for months. Surveying a freshwater lens in Vaitupu, Tuvalu. Photo: SPC

going forward.” water. In Ebeye in the Marshall Islands, where the number
At the end of 2019, just months before the coronavirus of cases of waterborne diseases averages 1,182 cases a year,
pandemic was declared, a Pacific High-Level Dialogue on the sewer system is dilapidated and fresh water sources
Water and Sanitation convened in Suva, Fiji and issued a call are limited, the ADB and Australian government are funding
to action to address this array of challenges. programs linking all households to upgraded freshwater and
Participants called for: stronger leadership on water and sewage facilities that reduce water leaks and sewage over-
sanitation (“a fundamental recalibration of priorities and flows. UNICEF partners to build water and sanitation facilities
investments”); more support for local capacity to maintain in communities, schools and health centres, provides WASH
safe, secure, appropriate and affordable systems and practic- assistance during emergency responses such as cyclones, and
es; increased investment in evidence-based decision making advocates for stronger national legal systems and policies for
(and by inference, in science, data collection, communica- WASH. Australia’s Water for Women Fund is a A$110.6 million
tion, citizen science and traditional knowledge of water re- (US$84 million) program aimed at improving the health, gen-
sources); stronger advocacy for change at all levels of society; der equality and well-being of Asian and Pacific communities
better coordination across sectors; and the establishment of through inclusive, sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene
effective frameworks for action. (WASH) programs.
Hebblethwaite says one of the key messages—particularly The gender focus is deliberate. Girls and women are the
for development partners—is that some of the water and most impacted by water access challenges. They do most of
climate action in the Pacific can involve some of the simplest the fetching, carrying and storage of water, and make most
things: “strapping on roofs, having solid guttering, resilient
water tanks, resilient access to groundwater, resilient sanita-
tion facilities that aren’t going to be destroyed by every
cyclone that goes through.” THE SPHERE STANDARD:
“Innovation is key absolutely, but it needs to be Pacific the minimum required fresh water
innovation and there’s a lot of home-grown innovation in this needed for human survival
area.”
Asked for an example, Hebblethwaite talks about an Estimated domestic
ongoing project in Vaitupu, Tuvalu, where an SPC-sponsored water consumption (per
groundwater survey for the first time confirmed traditional person, per day)
knowledge about a pocket of fresh water. Atoll communities: 50L
“People knew about this lens, but it had never been quanti- Suva: 100 L
fied or mapped before, so it was the first time it had been de- Apia: 165L
lineated and quantified so you could say, ‘Yes, you can pump Bangkok: 219L
a certain amount out of this lens’. It is not going to be enough 2.5-3 L: drinking Canberra: 304L
to sustain all the community’s needs, but it was certainly and food Wellington: 350L
shown to be enough to drought-proof the community.” 2-6L: basic
The New Zealand government is now supporting the Tuvalu hygiene A three-minute shower
government to protect and use that groundwater lens. 3-6L: basic represents some 29L
There are many agencies working, in particular, on WASH cooking of water (or 29 large
issues. A small sample: in Chuuk, Pohnpei and Yap, the 7.5-15L: total biscuit buckets).
Federated States of Micronesia Adaption Fund is working on Source: SPC
community-level infrastructure to provide access to clean

Islands Business, March 2021 31