Floods, droughts, contamination of groundwater, and water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea are just some of the challenges facing the water sector in Pacific Islands Countries.

Water resource managers are realising that these problems can only be tackled through strategic planning and coordination that bridges different government sectors, and that seeks to involve non-governmental stakeholders and the private sector.

Their challenge now lies in securing the political support required to make water everybody’s business.

 

A recent study from the World Health Organisation (WHO) tells us that the cases of diarrhoeal disease reported each year in the Pacific, nearly matches the number of inhabitants.

This is a shocking statistic. The 6.7 million cases of acute diarrhoea reported are responsible for the deaths of 2800 people, equivalent to the passengers in nine jumbo jets, most of them children less than five years old (WHO, 2008).

One of the reasons for this is that only half of the population of the Pacific are served with any form of improved drinking water or sanitation facilities.

Projections show that at the current rate of progress most Pacific Island Countries will not reach the 2015 Millennium Development Goals on access to improved sanitation and drinking water.

Cook Islands, Palau, Tonga and Vanuatu are some of the countries in the region that have realised that solving these issues is not all about pipes and toilets, but also about strategic planning and collaboration across sectors.

By gathering government departments (e.g. health, public works, disaster management, environment, etc.) private sector and civil society representatives they are developing Water Safety Plans, which examine possible pollution risks to water supply.

Understanding these risks in time helps to focus action which can stop polluted water entering drinking water, reduce leakage and plan for droughts.

This reduces public works costs and helps improve human health, which in turn saves money for health services.

An important part of Water Safety Planning is to protect the source of supply. Rapid urbanisation, solid and liquid waste, and other pollution, threaten vital rivers, streams and groundwater sources in Pacific Islands, also affecting nearby coastal waters and important fishing grounds.

Protecting these sources, requires all people who use, manage and impact on the source to work together to agree on how to plan land use, agriculture, building developments, forestry and other activities to keep the water flowing and clean. 

The Nadi River Basin, located in the western division of Viti Levu Island in Fiji, has a population of 40,000 people. This area is a vital link between Fiji and the wider world as it hosts Nadi international airport, providing the gateway for Fiji’s tourism industry and as a regional transport hub.

Recently Fiji’s Mineral Resources Department and Land and Water Resources Management Division, brought together stakeholders to start a process of establishing a Nadi Basin Catchment Committee which will provide an opportunity for local government, communities, planning authorities, private sector and other interest groups to come together and plan how to manage the river basin better.

Flooding has historically caused loss of life and damage to property and infrastructure within the Nadi River Basin. Infrastructural costs for floods in the Western Division of Fiji alone amounted to around F$3.8 million in early 2007.

Fiji is estimated to suffer around 10 fatalities and around F$20 million worth of total damage to infrastructure, agriculture, and homes per year from floods.

Hydrological data on rainfall and river flow is needed to identify the effects of climatic trends and the impacts of human activities on rivers, supporting accurate management measures and planning.

It is needed to warn people about impending floods and is also critical for the design of almost all the infrastructure we rely on in our societies—roads, bridges, dams and hydropower, drains, water supply, offices, house and hospital location.

Many Pacific islands countries lack the necessary capacity and resources for hydrological monitoring, because few people and decision makers understand the importance of this data in informing management. A small investment in information can help to save lives and to avoid substantial economic loss caused by flooding.

Your solution is my problem

Even though the introduction of flushing toilets may seem like a triumph for sanitation, they are causing major problems in Funafuti (Tuvalu), where precious rainwater is being used for flushing and untreated sewage rises and floods the island at times of extreme high tide, turning a walk to your local shop into a major health hazard.

But there is a cheap solution to these problems—composting toilets, which have been piloted at a few places with great success.

Composting does not use valuable freshwater resources and instead of storing polluting sewage, they produce much needed compost to enrich the soil of a barren atoll. It is estimated that if all residents were to convert to composting toilets, Tuvalu could expect to save A$2 million annually. All that remains now is to make people understand the linkages between water supply, sanitation and pollution, and that even though compost toilets may not look modern, they are the key to addressing many of the water problems in Tuvalu.

 

Despite the clear links between water management issues, they have traditionally been addressed in isolation by different government departments.

This has led to duplication of effort and ineffective, sometimes even counteractive approaches. Furthermore, a lack of stakeholder participation and linkages between national and local level management has led to big gaps between national policy and on-the-ground implementation.

There is now a growing realisation among water managers in the Pacific for the need to move towards an integrated approach to water resources management, which brings together government departments from different sectors, NGOs, communities and the private sector to coordinate and combine their efforts.

This will require governments to invest in strengthening coordinating bodies such as National Water Committees to oversee the development and implementation of overarching policies, legislation and strategy for water resource management.

 

Water managers participating in a regional planning meeting for integrated water resources management in July last year, found they face similar challenges in getting communities, fellow government officials and high-level politicians to understand the importance of investing in integrated and strategic planning processes.

It is time for governments to realise that what may initially look like an additional cost of time and resources for policy planning, will ultimately be cheaper for taxpayers than an uncoordinated approach with potentially counteractive, duplicated and unplanned government initiatives.