President Toribiong formally proclaimed March 22nd as Palau Water Day, and the following month as Blue Ribbon Water Awareness Month.

On 22 March, Palau joined with the global community in celebrating World Water Day at its first ever National Water Summit.   The Summit, held at the Ngarachamayong Cultural Centre in Koror, brought together Government officials, traditional leaders and community representatives to acknowledge the importance of Palau’s water resources and identify the priority issues for their management and protection.

 

In opening the summit, Palau’s President, Johnson Toribiong, noted that the nation is blessed with water resources that have provided its people with clean drinking water and safe sanitation for many years.  However, he also warned that, “as the demand on our water supply increases, Palau needs to start thinking of ways to conserve, protect and better manage this vital resource to ensure an adequate supply for current and future generations”

 

President Toribiong described the Summit as the first step towards creating a national water policy that will “protect and conserve Palau’s water resources for years to come,” and called on participants to actively contribute to its development.  “Only by working together can we ensure water forever,” he said.

 

Most of Palau’s water supplies come from the Ngerikiil Watershed. It supplies about 78% of Palau’s pumped water, but studies have shown that during drought seasons, it is not enough to supply sufficient water to meet the needs of the all the people.  This was just one of the issues raised at the Summit, where participants from all walks of life shared their views on the key water issues that should be covered by national policy.   Themes explored included security of supply, health, environment, resilience and governance.

 

A highlight of the Summit was the President’s signing of a proclamation that established the month of March 22 to April 22 as “Blue Ribbon Water Awareness Month.”  The blue ribbon represents the slogan “Water for Life,” and will feature around Palau on shirts, banners and even lamp poles.  

 

Protected Areas Network Coordinator, Joe Aitaro, said that the purpose of Blue Ribbon Water Awareness Month is to promote water awareness and to remind people that Palau’s water resources are finite and need protection.  “You just can’t overstate the importance of fresh water to a country like Palau,” he said.  “The emerging impacts of climate change are even more of a reason why as a nation we need to manage the water we have today, in order to secure our children’s future.”

 

Two other Micronesian countries, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia are also holding National Water Summits this World Water Day, and the findings of these summits will be shared at the upcoming Micronesian Chief Executives Summit in April.

 

ENDS

 

Contact: 

Gwen Sisior: Palau Water Policy Officer: mobile: (+680) 7799875, email: gsisior07@gmail.com

Dave Hebblethwaite: SPC IWRM Adviser: mobile (+680) 7792731, email: dave@sopac.org

Tiy Chung: SPC Communications Advisor: mobile: (+692) 4563124 email: tiy@sopac.org