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International Waters Project

Groundbreaking Study Estimates Cost of Water Pollution in Rarotonga

8/1/2005

By Steve Menzies and Noeline Browne in Rarotonga

A groundbreaking study estimates that Rarotonga could potentially avoid costs of NZ$7.4 million per year, or $2,900 per household, if watershed pollution was entirely prevented.

The study, commissioned by the International Waters Project (IWP), is helping the Cook Islands Government assess the best options for protecting the countries valuable watersheds.

In the study Dr Stefan Hajkowicz of CSIRO Australia, and Cook Islands consultant Mr Petero Okotai, attempted to estimate the costs the country could avoid if practical steps were taken to prevent watershed pollution. Although the report suggests these costs are potentially avoidable it is unclear how much could be recovered with sound watershed management practices.

The figure of $7.4 million is also a best estimate between a low estimate of $3.2 million and a high estimate of $17.6 million. Still it is a significant amount for an island with a resident population of only 10,000 people.

The most significant estimated costs are through lost tourism income of $3.5 million each year (47 percent), bottled water purchases (20 percent), and healthcare costs from water quality related illnesses (13 percent).

The study reveals that concerns about water quality have led to the widespread purchase of water filtering devices and that more than $115,000 is spent every year on items such as household water filters.

Petero Okotai says the report can be used to raise awareness of the economic costs of water pollution and poor management of the watershed.

“This can be a powerful tool for setting better environment policy. The challenge now is for government and other stakeholders to use this information and take action,” he says.

IWP National Coordinator Tauraki Raea says the study was designed to create a better understanding of the cost of Rarotonga’s poor water quality and to help the community to take action to address the root causes of the problem.

As in many Pacific Island countries there is currently no chemical water treatment in Rarotonga and locals and tourists are advised to boil their drinking water. Rarotonga’s coarse gravel filters can remove sticks, leaves and large objects from the water but will not filter out bacteria. Testing has found that the quality of tap water falls below international safety standards with faecal coliform exceeding acceptable levels at most intakes around Rarotonga, especially Takuvaine.

The Cook Islands International Waters Project (IWP) is managed by the Cook Islands National Environment Service and the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in close collaboration with the Takuvaine Community located near the main Avarua township. The IWP is overseen by a National Task Force made up of key stakeholders from government, non-government agencies, and the local community. This Task Force is also responsible for finding ways to use the community-based activities to improve the management of freshwater resources throughout Rarotonga and the Cook Islands.

When community member, Tianoa Joseph, collects his tap water he boils it in a pot and lets it sit so the leftover dirt can sink to the bottom. Then, using a clear hose, he syphons it into bottles. This is a practice used by several people in the community. “It’s a cheaper way of having safer drinking water for me and my family,” he says.

“Many of our people don’t think it (water quality) is a big problem for us because we boast we have tough stomachs,” says Tauraki Raea. “But those at risk include the elderly, the children, the sick and visitors to the island who expect a good, safe water supply. Contaminated water can lead to bugs that can cause diarrhoea or even just general feeling of tiredness and lethargy,” he says.

The Takuvaine catchment area has been used for subsistence activities such as growing of taro and animals can roam freely above the intake. A key challenge for the project is try to achieve a balance between the need for a supply of clean drinking water to the community – and the attitude of many landowners who feel it is their ‘right’ to do as they wish on their land.

The Director of the National Environment Service, Vaitoti Tupa, says the idea of introducing user-pays to try and improve Rarotonga’s water supply system reaches back as far as 1991.

“Water meters were installed but Waterworks couldn’t guarantee the continuous delivery of good quality freshwater and the economic reforms of 1994 contributed to the collapse of the whole project. What we are doing now with IWP is good because it’s about the whole country taking a good, hard, look at what we can do to improve the quality of freshwater at the source, before we start looking at options such as treatment and user-pays,” he says.

“Our aim is that by the end of 2005 the Takuvaine Catchment will have a management plan in place that is fully supported by the community living in Takuvaine and those landowners living in the neighbouring districts”, he says.

Tupa says the Environment Service hopes this plan will control the access of both tourists and locals to the sensitive areas above the intake and help to create support and demand for a similar plan for the rest of Rarotonga.

“The IWP has continually emphasized the vital importance of identifying the root causes of environment and resource management problems. For years, we have spent a lot of resources to address symptoms and then wondered why the problem still remains. Although the IWP is a community-based programme it’s also asking government some serious questions about how the different national agencies need to sort themselves to support practical initiatives at the community level,” he says.

“To date, it is apparent that people’s lack of participation is due to their lack of confidence in any government initiatives. We have to build public confidence that we are actually working hard to make sure that any national level initiatives are based on true participation and engagement with our communities.

“With the IWP it was hard for the community to get used to the idea that they would have to create the management plan themselves instead of waiting for government to do everything and simply give it back to the community to implement. I think that, in the end, the long-term results of this approach will justify all the hard work that both the community and the IWP team have put into trying to improve the quality of freshwater for all Cook Islands communities,” he says.

Ben Parakoti, the Director of the Cook Islands Water Works Department, believes that the IWP is already making some headway in addressing the issue of water quality in Rarotonga. While there have been no obvious changes in the water readings he says they have already noted a change in the attitude and actions of the community.

Vaitoti Tupa agrees: “The IWP awareness programmes have made the community more aware of the issues relating to water usage and how human activity impacts on the watershed and intake area. People have stopped swimming above or in the water intake, cows have been moved away or relocated below the water intake and dumping of rubbish has dropped. Traditional leaders, especially the Koutu Nui, have been concerned about this issue, and are fully supportive of the intentions of the project,” he says.

“If the IWP is about changing attitudes and finding “low-cost no-cost” solutions then the management plan is the way to go, says Mama Terii Simpson, a member of the IWP’s Local Project Committee. “Purchasing water filters, treatment systems, all cost money!” she says.

“It is like building a house. We need to plan carefully and collect the materials and have a proper foundation before we build a house that will be strong and sustainable. We need to have meetings and get everyone’s input and cooperation otherwise we will only build a house that won’t last,” she says.

”We need to spread the message that protecting our water is everybody’s responsibility – in the church, in the plantation, in the community. We have to start doing our part first then government will do their part,” she says.

Mama Terii says the community has already agreed one immediate solution will be to construct a public toilet below the intake for regular visitors such as tourists, taro growers, and other resource users.

“If peoples’ “business” is a problem then we simply need to provide people with a toilet. That’s one solution we’ve identified that everyone is happy with!”

ENDS

Contact Name	Steve Menzies
e-mail	stevem@sprep.org
Phone	(685) 21929
Fax	(685) 20231

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