SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS WATER CATCHMENTS OF ALLEVIATING LULUNGA DISTRICT, HA’APAI, THE POOR (SLAP) TONGA INCORPORATED LULUNGA DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY REPORT ‘Ana ‘Ake SLAP INCORPORATED © 2014 Sustainable Livelihoods Alleviating the Poor (SLAP) Inc. An online society set up to aid rural isolated communities in the Kingdom of Tonga. Ata Rd Kolomotu’a Ph: (676) 774-5208 Email: [email protected] In association with Mainstreaming of Rural Development Innovation Tonga Trust, Hala Olovaha, Fanga-‘o-Pilolevu, (P.O. Box 996) Nuku’alofa, KINGDOM OF TONGA Phone: (676) 24 354 Fax: (676) 24 354 E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.morditonga.to/ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The issue at hand, is that there is a shortage of water, and water storage facilities. The people of the outer islands of Ha’apai lack the capacity to solve this problem on their own. This report includes information on how this has come about. There is an average of 34 households per community or an average five people per household. These 1 055 people require at minimum, 20L of water for daily use according to the World Health Organization. That is 21 100L of sanitary water daily or 7 701 500L of water annually and that is at minimum consumption. To get that amount of water stored in various types of water tanks – cement, plastic, fiberglass or aluminum; there has to be a minimum of at least 90mm of monthly rainfall and not below. Anything below 90mm of monthly rainfall will not provide enough water for the minimal daily consumption of 20L per person. The Lulunga District is made up for six inhabited islands in the Ha’apai group of the Kingdom of Tonga. These islands are low lying atolls with the exception of Fotuha’a which is a raised limestone island elevated at about 20m above sea level. These six atolls rely entirely on rainwater harvesting for their consumption and basic water needs. There are currently enough water tanks to harvest minimal water for consumption and sanitary usage but beyond that, there is no surplus water. To have enough water to cater for consumption, sanitation and other usage, there is a need to increase the number of water tanks. There are only two islands with access to underground water lenses but even that water has its limitations. With the onslaught of climate change, underground boreholes have been abandoned due to the high salinity of the wells. Lulunga communities now have an increasing dependency on rainwater harvesting. However, the islands have experiences weather pattern disruptions from the la nina and el nino heat waves. The wet and dry seasons are thrown out of sync, and heavy rains and prolonged droughts become a problem. Water shortage needs to be addressed as it can be the cause of major health and environmental problems. Prolonged storage of water in untreated water tanks also becomes a breeding ground for insects and vermin; drastically affecting human health. The cement tanks from the 70s and 80s often sit in the communities without cleaning, collecting silt and dirt at the bottom of the tank. Over the years, water tanks have innovatively changed from cement to aluminum to fiberglass and now to plastic but prolonged water storage needs to be treated and that is an area that has not been introduced to the outer island communities. Renewed roofing, guttering and pipes are most needed especially since these outer islands are currently living in hurricane relief homes. Without help from donors, their water supply will remain as it has – scarce and unsafe. Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 3 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 5 MAP OF TONGA ................................................................................................................................. 6 MAP OF HA’APAI ................................................................................................................................ 7 LULUNGA DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY .................................................................................................. 8 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................... 14 INTRODUCTION The Lulunga District comprises of six small atolls located in the Ha’apai chain of islands. Ha’apai lies north of the main island of Tongatapu. These islands are located in a district known as the Lulunga District which is located south of the urban center of the Ha’apai capital of Pangai. Haʻapai consists of a group of islands, islets, reefs and shoals with an area of 109.30 square kilometres (42.20 sq mi) in the central part of the Kingdom of Tonga, with the Tongatapu group to the south and the Vavaʻu group to the north. Its highest point is Kao at almost 1,050 metres (3,440 ft). Pangai is the administrative capital village of the Haʻapai Group and is located on Lifuka. Haʻapai consists of 51 islands directly west of the Tonga Trench, constituting a chain of volcanic islands including Kao, the highest point in the kingdom standing at 1,046 metres (3,432 ft). Further to the west are the coral islands which are inhabited. The archipelago lies 204 kilometres (127 mi) north of Tongatapu and 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of Vava'u. 17 of the islands are inhabited, including the main islands of Lifuka and Foa. The two main villages in the archipelago are Pangai on Lifuka (where Salote Pilolevu Airport is located) and Ha'ano. A total of 6 616 people live on the Ha'apai islands (Census 2011). The Lulunga District is made up of six islands – Ha’afeva the main hub; Matuku, Kotu, Fotuha’a, Tungua and ‘O’ua. There is limited infrastructure in the Lulunga island group. Ha’afeva is the only main island with electricity. The other islands are without electricity or running water, but have access to the TCC mobile network. Income for these islanders is from agriculture and/or fishing. However, like much of Tonga, the largest source of income is remittances from family members living abroad. Vessels with good reception VHF will sometimes pick up the Vava'u VHF 26 NET. Much of the history of the Ha'apai parallels that of all of Tonga, but the Ha'apai also has a remarkable maritime history. The maritime history of the Ha'apai includes the well-known explorers Captains Tasman, Cook, and Bligh. It also includes the lesser known, but equally interesting, William Mariner. The recognition of these mariners is found throughout the Ha'apai group, especially in the administrative center of Pangai. Ha’apai is governed by the Governor Lord Tu’iha’angana. They have two seats in Parliament and is currently being held by ‘Uliti Uata and Mo’ale Finau. Some of the villages are under the estate title of chiefs while others belong to His Majesty the King. The total population of 6 616 holds a total of 1 266 total of households; 1 258 private households and 8 institutions. 6% of the entire Tongan population live in the Ha’apai group and of that; 16% of those in Ha’apai live in the Lulunga District with a total population of 1 055 people or 204 households. The majority of the population are aged <1-18 and 9 year olds and seem to hold the highest number in the population. The population change from the 2006 census indicates -2.7% in the population which is a decline in 954 people (indicating a migratory increase). MAP OF TONGA MAP OF HA’APAI LULUNGA DISTRICT LULUNGA DISTRICT WATER SUPPLY Water in the Lulunga District is harvested whenever it rains from the rainwater that falls onto the roof and into the water gutters. They are then drained into various water tanks for storage and consumption. In November 2013, a team of field surveyors comprised of staff from SLAP Inc and the Mainstreaming of Rural Development Innovation (MORDI) Tonga Trust set out to collect water data from the six islands in the Lulunga District. The method used for the survey was tallying all functional water tanks within each household and institution (which were mostly religious institutions and Government Primary Schools) to count the overall number of water tanks available and currently collecting water during rainfall. To calculate the amount of water that each tank could hold, the team adopted the general depth x height x length / 1 000. Often, the work was made easier for us by the companies who made the tanks by writing the volume capacity on the side of the tanks. To measure the amount of water each roof and gutter could harvest, the team employed the general calculation of L x W = catchment area (m2). Then based upon past years annual rainfall calculations, two calculations were used. One was for the wet season which used the average rainfall data for the wet season and average rainfall data for the dry season coming up with an average of 149mm and 90mm as minimum rainfall according to the Tonga Meteorological Center (refer to the table below). Table 1: Average rainfall for Tongatapu recorded in 2012 and used for the calculations. It is important to note that the graph above depicts Nuku’alofa rainfall and not Ha’apai rainfall as the rainfall in Ha’apai has not been recorded since 2010. According to the Tonga Met Office, the rain gauge broke and has not been replaced. The locals in Lulunga stated that they have not had any rain since June 2013 and our visit was in November, making it five months without rain. What little they collected in their current water tanks carried them for those five months and many water tanks were empty. The only water tanks that still held water were those of the local churches as they had bigger tanks and longer gutters. The LDS church especially held a lot of water with larger cement tanks that held about 48 000L of rainwater at maximum capacity. It is also critical to consider the amount of time the water had been sitting in the tanks as the buildup of bacteria, waterborne diseases, and insects also contribute to the health hazard of the community.