4 Apr 2013

Residents running out of water on Marshall Islands atoll

4:19 pm on 4 April 2013

The Marshall Islands Government has been asked to help alleviate a severe water shortage on an atoll in the country's north, which has been experiencing drought conditions since January.

A number of communities in the north have been facing drought conditions and Watje Atoll appears to be the hardest hit, prompting the mayor to appeal to the government for assistance.

Lowell Alik, an advisor to the Watje Atoll local government, says households on the atoll rely on rain catchments but as of a few days ago they were nearly running dry.

"Most of the households now the catchments are nearly empty and that they would not have enough water maybe for the month of April. A letter was sent to the office of the Chief Secretary on the 28th of March to assist with the water shortages and to see if they can help us with this issue."

Lowell Alik says one option might be to transport a reverse osmosis machine to help provide water in the short-term.

He says in the long-term each household may need two water catchments.