The legislative, institutional, socio-cultural, economic and hydrological aspects of this study form a linked hierarchy of issues and problems associated with water supply and management..
This study, together with previous studies, has revealed several issues impact on the sustainability of the water supply.
7.1 Institutional
The Draft 10 Year Master Plan identified a range of legislative and institutional changes to improve water resource management in Kiribati. Overarching, comprehensive national water legislation would help to resolve institutional uncertainties on roles and responsibilities and provide a firm foundation for addressing systematically and consistently the issues and tensions involved in water resource management.. However, legislation must have a strong commitment for implementation by Government, otherwise current problems will continue. The need to finalise lease agreements is paramount, as is pursuing the offer of resettlement to new lands elsewhere in Kiribati. The conflicts generated by traditional resource ownership, landowners rights, and the impact of deep rooted socio-cultural factors with the urgent needs of a high density, urbanised population on South Tarawa need to be recognised and resolved equitably.
The suggested separation of supply and regulation in the water sector could help in clarifying responsibilities between water agencies. However, it is heavily dependent on the availability of appropriate water expertise and a commitment by Government to this functional separation. In small island states, the availability of human resource expertise is a critical issue.
Capacity building and the training of local expertise deserves particular attention in any water resources policy in small island states. In addition, there is a role for regional organisations such a SOPAC in the South Pacific, to assist in the institutional and capacity building.
The PUB is the water supplier in South Tarawa. Monitoring the rainfall inputs at the Bonriki-end of South Tarawa, the thickness and salinity (electrical conductivity) of the lens at Bonriki through the monitoring boreholes, measuring salinity and microbiology (electrical conductivity) of water produced at the pumping stations and throughout the distribution system, and determining leakages are fundamental to the sustainable management of the water supply system. This data should be reported regularly, say as at three monthly intervals. The ongoing vandalism of infrastructure at Bomiki, particularly salinity monitoring boreholes, threatens the ability to adequately assess resource security. As indicated earlier, the root causes of this vandalism and its socio-cultural underpinnings, need to be addressed urgently.
The need for the introduction of a water-pricing regime is clearly an on-going priority, essential to the operation and maintenance of the reticulation system and to demand management. In order to streamline the roles of the PUB, it may be possible for PUB to be
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responsible only for water supply and collection of rates from households and villages in South Tarawa, with the villages being responsible for the supply of water and collection of rates locally. This may help transfer some of the ownership and responsibility for water management back to the local community (Harrison, 1980). If the PUB were to pay the compensation (or water reserve management fees) to Bonriki villagers then compensation would appear as a clearly identified cost against water revenues.
The regulator should be responsible for initiating routine water quality checks, for ensuring that the extraction, supply and delivery of water is not harmful to the environment, and that extraction of water is being carried out in a sustainable way. These key roles should be mandatory, irrespective of who is the regulator. Part of this responsibility would include the operation of models of groundwater and the extraction process. As demand management is an essential element of sustaining water resources (Falkland, 1992), the regulator could also monitor charges and payment for water, In addition, the regulator could initiate public education and awareness campaigns in conservation and ways of reducing demand on reticulated water, such as rainwater tanks and properly constructed and sited private wells.
7.2 Bonriki Community
Special consideration needs to be given to the Bomiki community (Crennan, 1998). They have been forced to sacrifice their main form of wealth, land, for the public good of South Tarawa.
While they have been partly compensated for these sacrifices, there are many unresolved outstanding issues in the Bonriki compensation debate. Payment of financial compensation, the quest for additional forms of compensation, the absence of lease agreements, the perceived loss of use of the water reserve and continuing vandalism of infrastructure, are major on-going concerns which need to be addressed. At present, the Bonriki people are paid financial compensation annually. However, it is suggested that more regular payment of compensation, say at three-month intervals, be considered. This may tend to lessen disquiet in the intervening period.
Regular payment of financial compensation alone will not address the root causes of the problem at Bomiki, including the perceived loss of ownership and connection with their lands.
Provision of alternative lands via resettlement is one compensation option the Government has promised the Bonriki people and which has to be resolved. In the interim, one means of addressing the issue would be to make Bonriki villagers custodians of the Bomiki water reserve. This may help restore part of their traditional relationship with their land and encourage stewardship of the resource.
In this model, the Bonriki villagers, payment of financial compensation or a management fee would be linked to the upkeep of the water reserve. Performance indicators for payment of compensation would concern the health of the vegetation on the lens and the state of the general environment as it pertains to groundwater production. This could include such factors as a reduction in settlers and housing on the lens, the infilling of old and unproductive taro pits, open wells and density of vegetation. Financial compensation could be decreased by failure to meet indicators and by acts of vandalism. In this model, payment would be a ‘management fee’
for maintenance of the Bonriki land as a water reserve rather than a compensation fee for loss of land use. It is assumed in this model that the landowners will accept the socio-economic implications associated with the loss of rights to their land.
Traditional landowners in this model, are not paid for water produced from the lens, since ownership of the below-ground resource resides with the Government, according to statutory law, as opposed to traditional oral law. The Bonriki landowners would in essence be paid for land stewardship. The thrust of this approach is to retain the links of traditional owners with
their land. Performance indicators would need to be agreed to by the Bonriki community. A list of performance indicators could include:
number of babai pits remaining number of open wells
number of dwellings on the water reserve area of vegetable gardens on the lens
area of coconut trees on the lens ( target of 20% coverage may be reasonable) number of trees harvested
number of trees replanted removal of surface vegetation number of nuts harvested
An alternate model could be that compensation is paid for the restricted use of land plus a management fee paid on top of compensation, perhaps to top up to the rate paid for industrial land use.. Whichever model is used, regular, more frequent than yearly payment would lessen problems. In both models it is envisaged that land ownership remains vested in the traditional owners with the government leasing their land in order to supply water. Both models still involve restricted landuse but acknowledge publicly traditional ownership through the payment of a custodianship fee.
Since coconut trees use more water that short surface vegetation, it is suggested that Bonriki controlled sports fields could be established on the water reserve to both increase recharge and provide an outlet for youthful energies in local communities. Well-maintained public facilities and sports fields are scarce in South Tarawa. Controlled and limited settlement around the coastal margin of the lens is possible since the hydraulic gradient, and hence the direction of groundwater flow to the sea, is away from the collection galleries (Falkland, 1992) however this requires additional research. Traditional land parcels extend from lagoon to the ocean side of islands so this coastal margins occupation may not be culturally acceptable.
As reflected in this study, research is urgently required to investigate acceptable, conjunctive land use associated with fresh groundwater extraction from reserves in low, coral islands, to relieve pressure on land where strong socio-traditional cultural norms and values predominate.
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