Improving the water security of the Republic of Marshall Islands through management of infrastructure
- Republic of Marshall Islands
- Pacific
ENTRY DATE: 09.03.2012 | LAST UPDATE: 09.03.2012
SCALE:
- Sub-national Level
TARGET AREA:
BEST PRACTICE IN:
- Project Implementation
KEY SECTOR:
- Water Resources Management
FUNDING AMOUNT:
- USD 5,000,001 - USD 10,000,000
Description of Intervention
Groundwater is a critical resource for the Republic of Marshall Islands, as is the case for most atolls. The freshwater lens is very shallow and borehole drilling is normally kept within 5 to 10 meters of the surface. The only alternative to groundwater is localised rainwater harvesting, which is not reliable in the long term and may not be adequate for current and future needs given the growth of Majuro’s population. The PACC project addresses the issue of high evaporation rates of water storage facilities in the Republic of Marshall Islands. Adaptation measures could save several millions of gallons of water and better position Majuro to minimise the effects of future droughts. The project will promote a whole island approach to climate change adaptation that takes a holistic view of how water is being used to better address other risks such as overexploitation of boreholes for agricultural purposes.
Problems to be Addressed
• Continuous migration of the population from rural areas to Majuro will impose an increasing stress on the water supply infrastructure;
• Current water storage facilities have a high evaporation rate; and
• Limited and fragile fresh-water resources that are highly vulnerable to over-use and contamination.
Aims
To make the water supply system of Majuro more resilient to climate change through a reduction in the evaporation rate
Objectives
• To assess evaporation rate of the Majuro Reservoir;
• To provide an evaporation cover to reduce water loss from evaporation and leakage;
• To confirm rate of evaporation using current data and future scenarios;
• To assess current and future climate change induced precipitation scenarios; and
• To assess current supply.