GEOSCIENCE DIVISION
Map Cook Islands Federated Sates of Micronesia Fiji Kiribati Nauru Niue Papua New Guinea Republic of Marshall Islands Republic of Palau Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu
Country
Population
Land Area
Climate
Water resource
Water consumption
Country Cook Islands Cook Islands
Population 21,750 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 236.7 km2
Climate
Water resource
Water consumption
Country Federated Sates of Micronesia Federated Sates of Micronesia
Population 107,862 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 702 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 4,928 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Fiji Fiji
Population 918 675 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 18,270 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2000 - 3000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Kiribati Kiribati
Population 107,817 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 811 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: South of the equator: 1,300 mm Tarawa: 2,000 mm Northernmost islands: over 3,200mm Eastern Line Islands: less than 1,000 mm
Water consumption
Country Nauru Nauru
Population 11,528 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 21 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2,090 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Niue Niue
Population 1,625m(GoN statistics 2006)
Land Area 260 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2,180 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea
Population 5,795,887 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 462,840 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall:1000-80000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Republic of Marshall Islands Republic of Marshall Islands
Population 20,842
Land Area 458 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 3,700 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Republic of Palau Republic of Palau
Population 61,815(July 2007 est.)
Land Area 11,854.3 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: Southern attols: 4,000mm Northern attols:2,000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Samoa Samoa
Population 214,265
Land Area 2,944 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 3,000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Solomon Islands Solomon Islands
Population 566,842
Land Area 28,450 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall:1500-5000 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Tonga Tonga
Population 116,921
Land Area 748 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: Varies from north and south of tonga with an estimated average of 2500 mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Tuvalu Tuvalu
Population 11.992 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 26 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 3000mm per annum
Water consumption
Country Vanuatu Vanuatu
Population 211,971 (July 2007 est.)
Land Area 12,200 km2
Climate
Water resource Avg Rainfall: 2000 - 4000 mm per annum
Water consumption
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Call for EoI for assisting the Republic of Nauru to develop a National Water and Sanitation Policy Framework and Implementation Plan
 The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) currently executes the European Union (EU) funded Pacific Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) National Planning Programme.  The Programme is designed to support 14 Pacific Island Countries to strengthen their governance structures and frameworks to mainstream IWRM and Water Use Efficiency (WUE) into national planning processes.
 
Through the Pacific IWRM National Planning Programme, SOPAC has been requested by the Government of Nauru to secure technical support to assist in the preparation of a National Water and Sanitation Policy Framework (NWSPF) and associated Implementation Plan.
 
Specifically, it has been requested that technical assistance be provided to support Nauru’s Department of Commerce, Industry and Environment (CIE) to develop the Policy Framework and Implementation Plan with the active participation of stakeholders through the soon-to-be-formed National Committee on Water, Energy and Waste (NCWEW) and the existing Water Technical Committee (WTC).  While CIE is Nauru’s lead agency for water, it is acknowledged that the responsibility for managing this fragile resource is shared across various government and non-government stakeholders.
Nauru has no significant surface water resources, limited groundwater resources, and is highly vulnerable to drought.  Water for domestic use is obtained from a mixture of desalinated supply delivered by truck, rainwater harvested from roofs, non-potable coastal groundwater, seawater, and limited use of a thin lens of fresh groundwater under Nauru’s central plateau.  Consumption of potable water is relatively low, particularly during times of extended drought.
 
Despite relatively good toilet facilities, sanitation remains a significant problem on Nauru due to the impact of the island’s cesspits and septic tanks on coastal groundwater.   While there is no documentary evidence of health issues arising from contaminated groundwater, Nauru has one of the higher rates of hospitalized diarrhoea in the Pacific region.  The need for better water supply is widely acknowledged, but to date there has been relatively little engagement on the issues of sanitation and hygiene.
Nauru’s historical reliance on subsidized desalination has permitted both the attrition of alternative water infrastructure and the degradation of its groundwater resources.  While recent droughts and less reliable supplies of desalinated water have seen Nauruans embrace improvements to rainwater harvesting, these difficulties have also pushed people towards inappropriate use of polluted groundwater resources.
 
Despite Nauru’s small size, it is not immune to many of the barriers to cross-sectoral coordination experienced worldwide. Nauru currently has no institutional, legislative or policy frameworks for the management of water and sanitation, leaving the country with no specific objectives or agreed targets for the management of its water resources, and no clear lines of responsibility for water resources planning and decision making.  A further difficulty is that, despite a common concern about water, the citizens of Nauru are not effectively engaged in the protection of their water resources, and there is no clear mechanism in which to facilitate their participation in planning and management decisions.
 
There is a clear desire within Government to “do something about water,” and CIE is in the process of establishing the NCWEW to advise Government on water resource and sanitation management issues.  In addition to providing advice to Government on water, energy and waste, CIE intends for the NCWEW to be given the responsibility of providing multi-stakeholder advice on the development of an overarching Policy Framework and Implementation Plan.  
The CIE has identified the absence of such a policy framework as being a fundamental barrier to the integrated management of the Republic’s scarce water resources, and see its development as a priority for the implementation of IWRM on Nauru.  It is intended that the Policy Framework be a practical, “directing” document – capturing the key objectives, principles, priority issues, actions and responsibilities necessary to drive the management of water resources and sanitation across relevant agencies and sectors.  It should aim to mainstream water management into the annual cycle of Government business, and establish clear and practical roles for CIE, WTC and the NCWEW in the ongoing implementation, evaluation and assessment of the policy.
 
CIE has requested that the Pacific IWRM National Planning Programme support technical assistance to assist in the development of the Policy Framework and Implementation Plan.  CIE has further directed that the development of the framework should incorporate input from Nauru’s key water stakeholders (attached at Annex I), and acknowledge the process followed and lessons learned during the preparation of Nauru’s National Energy Policy Framework.  The energy framework was prepared by CIE with the assistance of the Pacific Islands Energy Policy and Strategic Action Planning (PIEPSAP) programme, and is considered by CIE to be a good example of a successful process.
 
These Terms of Reference outline the core activities of this technical assistance, however the details of individual tasks and their implementation will need to be determined during initial detailed discussions with CIE.  It is crucial also that the Policy Framework and Implementation Plan be both consistent and, where appropriate, integrated with the broader policies and initiatives of Government, including Nauru’s National Sustainable Development Strategy.  As such, the development of the NWSPF and Implementation Plan should seek the active input and engagement of the Minister for Commerce, Industry and the Environment, and where appropriate, Cabinet.







Expressions of interest are to addressed to the Director of SOPAC and e-mailed to the following e-mail addresses director@sopac.org and copied to dave@sopac.org, and fane@sopac.org with the subject heading “Expression of Interest to Develop a National Water and Sanitation Policy Framework for the Republic of Nauru”. Submission of Expressions of Interest must reach the SOPAC Secretariat no later than 1630h, Fiji Time, on 30th November 2010.  

Enquiries may be directed to Mr Dave Hebblethwaite on E-mail: dave@sopac.org or Telephone: (679) 3381377 (extension 309). 
 




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