Being sensible in Hawaii, mitigate, save the Taro!

As established in my previous post; water insecurity is a risk facing the lower lying Pacific islands. Hawaii has taken steps to mitigate the problem. Each year, the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Honolulu uses national El Niño and La Niña outlooks from National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create island-level forecasts for Hawaii (Keener 2012). The WFO uses this for television, radio, and electronic newsletters to inform policymakers, managers and communities about the potential seasonal impacts of an El Niño or La Niña event (Keener 2012).

In October 2010, the WFO predicted an above-average winter rainfall. PVT Land Company in Nanakuli, used these predictions and took steps to mitigate the climate risks. The company’s Taro crops in previous years had been destroyed by saltwater inundation at Lukunoch Attol, Chuuck State (Keener 2012). It takes around two years of normal rainfall to flush brackish water out of a taro patch (Keener 2012). If no more saltwater inundation takes place there is still a five year gap before the next harvest (Hezel, 2009). Managers decided to upgrade infrastructure that would divert and hold large amounts of stormwater (Keener 2012). By the end of November 2010, PVT had finished upgrading its storm drainage system and retention ponds. The effects of the rainfall were therefore limited in its damage. However this is not true for everyone on the Island. Other local landfills could not handle the intense rainfall and had to close down. They also released hazardous untreated water and waste onto local beaches (Keener 2012). Unlike PVT which was open the next day. PVT saved millions by this preventative measure, provides a good example of how using climate change data and acting accordingly can save money and time. 

This does show that only companies who can afford to take these measures have this option. Many companies will be unable to afford such infrastructural changes, there are measures in place to provide countries affected by climate change, so why aren’t they using it more effectively?

Many Pacific Islands are finding it difficult to access the millions in Global Funding available for Climate Change (Hawkins 2007). Coral Siale Pasisi, the Regional and International Issues Advisor at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, says the complexities of accessing Climate Change fund are formidable and Pacific nations need expert assistance as well as stronger more accountable finance systems if they are to tap these funds (Hawkins 2007). This is less of an issue for an island like Hawaii as it is part of the USA, but for some of the smaller islands like Kiribati, they have fewer resources to tap into funds and get the help they need. Although some islands feel resentful of the view that they are vulnerable. At the Port Vila briefing on climate change, there were some at the table who felt that dependence on overseas aid for adaption and mitigation programmes were not necessary and that the Pacific Islands position on climate change should shift from that of vulnerability to value (Hawkins 2007). Some of the speakers felt it was important to harness the value of the island to fund for their measures against climate change. In the case of Kiribati, tuna is an important resource, and should be fished sustainably which will be less polluting and more profitable long term (Hawkins2007).

The Link for Keener no longer works so this is its reference

Keener, V. (2012) Climate Change and Pacific Islands: Indicators and Impacts, PIRCA: Island Press