Recently in Fresh water supply Category

One of the things we've learned at Seacology is that all islands, however similar they may seem, each face a unique set of challenges. Some islands in the South Pacific, for instance, get all the rain they can handle. But in Mitiaro, a 12-square-mile island in the north-eastern end of the Cook Islands, they can't get enough.

During Mitiaro's dry season (typically from June to November) the island's 200 residents must rely on reserves they store in water tanks. When they suffer droughts -- as is the case right now -- they may have to resort to dipping into the island's natural resevoirs, the pristine fresh-water pools found in remote caves.

But even that isn't so simple, since just getting to the pools can be challenging and dangerous. One cave requires that you climb down a tree and then navigate steep, slippery rocks before you reach the water.

Our project in Mitiaro addressed both these issues. In exchange for the conservation of 3,000 acres of forest (roughly a third of the island!) we funded the installation of a safe pathway with handrails to the cave pools, plus the renovation of eight 10,000 gallon water tanks (pictured below).
 
 

Today is Blog Action Day, when bloggers worldwide join together to raise awareness about an important issue. This year's topic is water, and nothing could be more relevant to islands! Even though islands are surrounded by oceans, they are plagued by problems resulting from not enough--or too much--water. 

Though Karla wrote about a great blog entry about climate change a few months back, the topic is on my mind and in the news. Yesterday, the Pacific Islands Forum convened in Cairns, Australia. This article details how leaders of seven small island nations met in advance of the forum to express their concerns over the immediate threats related to climate change, and to urge leaders of developed nations to take an aggressive stance in slashing greenhouse emissions.

I recently compiled a list of the threats that small islands face due to climate change. The threats range from the obvious - coastal inundation, intrusion of salt water into fresh water drinking supplies and crops, extreme weather events - to the less obvious, yet still potentially devastating effects - damaged crops and unpredictable harvest rates, decline in fish populations due to coral bleaching and mangrove loss, increase in vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, economic insecurity and decreased tourism revenue, and cultural tensions as communities are forced to relocate. On a visit to Seacology projects in Yap, Micronesia in 2007, local leaders told me of their worries regarding the likely migration of communities from an outer atoll to the main island, where resources are already stretched. While in Vanuatu in June 2009, residents spoke of disappeared coastal landmarks and boundaries, inundated by sea water.

Last month at the office, the water cooler ran out and we had to wait three days for a fresh supply. To avoid the dreaded tap water, I brought two water bottles to work, filled with filtered water from home. This got me thinking about how this ubiquitous office perk is such a big deal, while we in the US have perfectly safe tap water. In fact, Seacology has provided 14 fresh water delivery systems to communities that do not have safe and reliable sources of drinking water.

In many places around the world, safe water is impossible to find. When I lived in Samoa, the campus had a filtering system and we boiled or treated our water with iodine. It wasn't as dire as in Uganda, where I brushed my teeth with mouthwash instead of water. And travelers can barely touch an ice cube or fruit juice in countries like Mexico and India. The picture at right illustrates one of the problems water shortages can cause: here, a boy in West Bengal, India is pumping water in a flooded area. The Water Encyclopedia says that "floodwaters can contaminate cisterns and improperly designed wells, compounding problems caused by river currents and inundation." And yet here in the United States, we hardly consider what it would be like to live without our tap water - and we still buy expensive bottled water because "it tastes better" or we like the commercials or the pretty packaging.