Science and society clash on atolls
	Line in the sand: Previous authorities built airports (such as the one above on Bonriki Island) on traditional land, displacing residents
By Julian Lee All is not well on the coconut palm-fringed Pacific Islands where, according to one ANU water specialist, science does not necessarily hold all the answers. As part of a UNESCO study in collaboration with the Kiribati government, Professor Ian White of CRES, and environmental consultants Tony Falkland and Dr Leonie Crennan, travelled to Tarawa atoll in the mid-Pacific to examine the recharge of fresh groundwater reserves by rainfall. What they found was a water resource problem complicated by ownership issues, village loyalties, compensation, politics and national need. For the inhabitants of Tarawa's main island Bonriki, fresh water is in short supply - they receive about 40 litres a person daily. This is 10 litres below the World Health Organisation minimum and is well below the 550 litres that the average Australian uses, Prof White said. "Sustainable water extraction from shallow groundwater is crucial to low coral atoll Pacific nations as this is their main source of freshwater," Prof White said. "Over-pumping can draw underlying seawater into the reserves which, because they sit in absorbent coral sands, are also easily contaminated by surface wastes from humans and animals." The study aimed to establish safe pumping limits which are determined by the amount of rainfall replenishing the groundwater. With help from their Kiribati colleagues and trainees from surrounding island nations, Prof White and Mr Falkland set up equipment to measure water moving on and off the island - water caught by tropical vegetation, lost by evaporation from plants, removed from groundwater by trees and stored in the soil. "We hoped to answer the key questions asked by water managers - how much water can we extract per day and what will it do to the vegetation, especially the coconuts which are an important source of income and food?" he said. What they found was that current pumping removed only one millimetre of groundwater per day, an amount equivalent to what the coconut palms, which cover a fifth of the island, were using. They also determined that tidal variations in the groundwater level were 10 times greater than that caused by pumping. "We found that current water pumping would not affect the plants and in fact we estimate that pumping could be increased by up to 30 per cent," Prof White said. As the team soon discovered however, social issues have a significant role in water management. "Local communities, who traditionally owned land overlying freshwater reserves, are excluded from using land for habitation and raising pigs or vegetable gardens so that neighbouring villages can have drinkable water. Such requirements touch sensitive community concerns and can generate conflicts," he said. The team found that, adding to the tension, past authorities declared traditionally owned land to be water reserves or built airports without consultation or involvement, believing that annual compensation payments would be sufficient recompense. "Governments have not acknowledged the paramount importance of the relationship between the people and their land," Prof White said. "The lack of community consultation and the way in which compensation has been handled has been at the heart of community discontent," he said. "The people we spoke to would not believe the findings from our study as they may adversely affect the amount of additional compensation they might receive from the government." While an understanding of the science is important, social, political and economic issues must take equal footing. "A workable solution can only come from an integrated understanding of the science and culture," Prof White said. "Discussion is now underway on a range of different management options."