Wotje Atoll is now the focus of two water projects that aim to reduce the severity of the inbound El Niño drought and to establish a system for sustainable use and management of the main island’s substantial underground water lens.
With a serious El Niño weather condition in progress expected to lead to a drought at the start of 2027, putting increased pressure on Wotje’s fresh water lens, both projects are timely.
They are:
- ACWA, otherwise known as “Addressing Climate Vulnerability in the Water Sector Project,” is a United Nations Development Program-funded being implemented around the RMI with the RMI EPA.
- The Managing Coastal Aquifers Project, a regional water security initiative implemented in the RMI, Palau and Tuvalu, funded by the Global Environment Facility, implemented through UNDP, and executed regionally by the Pacific Community.
Locally, both projects are partnered with the RMI Environmental Protection Authority.
Managing Coastal Aquifers Project (MCAP) is focused on improving the understanding, management and protection of coastal aquifers and increase water security in communities vulnerable to drought, saltwater intrusion, sea-level rise and other climate impacts related to fresh groundwater resources.
At present, only Laura Island in Majuro has a functional, monitored and sustainably used freshwater lens. This is now being extended to Wotje because of the large underground freshwater lens on the main island — which, no doubt, is one of the reasons that Wotje has always been a fertile island for agriculture products.
Now the challenge and the point of the MCAP program is to set up a system to monitor and use the underground water supply in a safe and sustainable manner.
Currently, MCAP has supported groundwater assessments, modeling and monitoring in Majuro, Wotje, Jaluit and Aelonlaplap, providing important information on freshwater lenses and their potential for sustainable use.
The project has also built national and community capacity through drilling rig and groundwater monitoring training for RMI EPA, Majuro Water and Sewer Company, and community water committees, while producing technical assessments to guide future water security planning.
A major investment now happening under MCAP is the Wotje Infiltration Gallery, a solar-powered fresh groundwater supply designed to provide an additional source of water by drawing from Wotje’s freshwater lens. Construction was completed in July, and a follow up mission more recently conducted a final inspection and commissioned testing of the construction.
“Given the gallery water supply is the first of its kind for RMI outside of Majuro, further training on operation, maintenance and management of the Wotje freshwater lens is scheduled for later this year as part of the handover process,” said the RMI EPA in a statement about the project. “Once operational, the system will supplement rainwater supplies, particularly during drought.”
EPA noted that the project also complements the ACWA Project. While ACWA focuses primarily on rainwater storage, community water systems and drought preparedness, MCAP has contributed to drought preparedness by improving understanding of the freshwater groundwater resources available in islands around the RMI.
“Through groundwater assessments, monitoring and modeling, MCAP has provided critical information to support the sustainable use of these resources as alternative water supplies, particularly during periods of drought,” EPA said.
The multi-year project to install water storage and collection systems in the RMI —known as ACWA — is said to be the biggest ever undertaken in the country.
“EPA and UNDP have been implementing one of the largest government water projects ever in the RMI,” said RMI EPA General Manager Moriana Phillip in a social media post last week. “Every single atoll and island will receive these tanks by the end of 2027.”
The project is known as ACWA, or the “Addressing Climate Vulnerability in the Water Sector Project.”
For much of September, EPA and the ACWA Project team has been in Wotje Atoll. They started with Wodmej, the smaller of the two populated islands in the atoll, and then moved to water tank and collection system installations on Wotje Wotje.
The ACWA team is installing rainwater harvesting systems on existing community buildings around Wotje. These include:
Wotje Elementary School, Northern Islands High School, UCC Church, SDA Church, AOG Church, Full Gospel Church, Marshall Islands Police Department, and the island’s health center.