But hydrological information lacking in region

Tiy Chung



In January this year a slow moving tropical depression passed over Fiji dumping three to four times the average monthly rainfall on the country’s Northern and Western Divisions.
It was, according to Fiji’s Meteorological Director Rajendra Prasad, the wettest January in over 100 years. Over three days from January 9-11, periods of intense rain saturated catchment areas. As more rain fell, it had nowhere to go and rivers swelled and eventually flooded.
Nadi bus station was under approximately 3.7 metres of water and Nadi International Airport was closed for 48 hours, stranding hundreds of tourists. It also claimed 11 lives.
The flooding caused over F$100 million worth of damage to infrastructure and homes. Damage to businesses, the post-flood relief effort and clean-up costs caused widespread disruptions across Fiji and continued to have long-term effects on the country’s economy.
The floods also brought to light a lack of hydrological data needed to help government and town planners make informed decisions and weigh all available options in planning for and mitigating against future flooding events.
According to Llyod Smith of the Pacific Hydrological Cycle Observing System (HYCOS) project, the lack of hydrological data is a Pacific-wide issue.
“Water is a source of life but it can also be a force of destruction, the difference between the two is good water monitoring, assessment and management,” Smith said. “But you can’t manage what you don’t measure.”
Pacific Islands countries have uniquely fragile water resources due to their small size, lack of natural storage, competing land use and vulnerability to natural hazards.
In many countries, even small variations in water supply can have a significant impact on health, quality of life and economic development. Increased urbanisation, rural development, growing populations, climate change and increased demand from industry is putting further pressure on this vital resource, threatening the long-term viability of communities, islands and some states. 
Despite this, many Pacific Islands Countries don’t have sufficient hydrological data to help them plan for droughts and floods, prevent water contamination and water borne diseases, and better develop infrastructure, industry and urban growth. The data that currently exists is patchy and needs updating through data collection programmes by well resourced National Hydrological Services. As a science, hydrology is pretty unglamorous and relatively invisible, yet the information it provides is vital.
Most infrastructure planning requires information on water. Houses and office buildings can’t be constructed without knowing the availability of water, and how to manage waste and storm water disposal. Roads need to be built in areas that won’t be washed away and bridges need to be built at certain heights and strengths so they can handle extreme events.
Knowing the size of the floods and their frequencies also help governments plan where to put businesses, hospitals, homes, hydropower dams, etc. A lack of hydrological data also affects the ability of governments to provide their citizens access to clean drinking water.
A recent report (October 2008) by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) on sanitation, hygiene and drinking water in Pacific Islands countries revealed that the annual incidence of diarrhoea diseases in the Pacific nearly matches the number of its inhabitants, with 6.7 million cases of acute diarrhoea resulting in the death of 2800 people annually.
With the world’s climate becoming more variable and unpredictable, funding for improved measurement and management of land and water resources is required to reduce the impacts of climate change.
Extreme events like the Nadi floods should help focus the attention of Pacific governments to the need for accurate and consistent climate and water related data.
The European Union funded Pacific HYCOS project, based at SOPAC, aims to assist Pacific Island Countries in their ability to measure, assess and interpret the trends and status of their water resources, and to provide water-related information through robust hydrological monitoring programs. 
During and after a flood, the priority work for any National Hydrological Service is the collection of data such as rainfall intensity and the volume of water flowing down a river. Pacific HYCOS priorities include the installation of pilot hydrological networks and technologies in order to help collect reliable river discharge and sedimentation data. This information is essential when considering flood mitigation measures and future infrastructure design requirements. 
Despite its destructive nature, the Nadi floods have provided an opportunity to better plan and deal with future events in a much more integrated manner.  The Nadi community and government, in partnership with SOPAC and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), are looking at smarter and more sustainable solutions to manage the Nadi River.
A Nadi Basin Catchment Committee (NBCC), made up of representatives from government departments, businesses and community interest groups, has been established to manage flood risks in a more collective and holistic way.
The NBCC will consider various approaches to deal with flooding. These include developing appropriate infrastructure, strengthening the capacity of the environment to minimise flood risk and cope with flood damage and by taking into account long-term climate variability in the design of these measures.
The NBCC will support hydrological data collection by putting in place monitoring equipment, allowing for better flood estimates and modeling of the river to better understand flooding, and by developing flood planning levels and maps that show the different return period of floods.
Once accurate flood mapping is developed, it will be possible to plan land use, ensure structures are flood-resilient and reduce the amount of damage caused by future floods.

* Tiy Chung is SOPAC’s Communications Advisor for Water.