Attachments
A. SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the disaster
Located just north of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) comprises 1,200 islands, islets, and atolls with a land area of 180 square kilometres. Common to most countries in the region, RMI faced increased challenges from climate change and natural hazard-related disasters.
The US Drought Monitoring Report received through the RMI National Weather Service Office (WSO) on 24 December 2021 indicated extreme drought for the Northern Marshall Islands. According to the Drought Information Statement (DIS) issued early in January 2022, some Northern islands reported limited to no rain during the first week of January and these conditions persisted during the following months. The classification of moderate drought (D1) was introduced for the Wotje atoll. Atolls near and North of Wotje faced the prospect of similar drought outlooks.
Due to the continuation of dry conditions in the northern islands west of the Republic, the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) activated the National Emergency Operations Committee (NEOC) on 1 February 2022. The NEOC initially developed the “Immediate Drought Response Plan” in response to the critical conditions reported from 14 neighbouring islands. The RMI Government then released for general circulation the: "Immediate and Early Drought Response Plan for the Republic of the Marshall Islands.”
Led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the WASH Cluster organized a meeting to initiate partner coordination. The first meeting was held in January to provide technical input to the Drought Response Plan. The second meeting was held in February to review the plan with partners after the plan was endorsed by parliament.
Summary of drought impact
The severity of the drought conditions in the affected areas was categorized as follows:
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D3 (Extreme drought) in Wotje and RMI atolls.
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D1 (Moderate drought) in Kwajalein/Ailinglaplap (RMI).
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D3 (Extreme drought) in the Northern Marshall Islands near and north of Majuro. This included, but was not limited to, Wotje, Ailuk, Mejit, Wotho, Utirik, Maloelap, Ebadon, Namu, Jabot, Aur.
Many catchments were very low or empty, some wells were salty, however, well water levels were still decent. Catchment water was used for drinking on many islands, with some using coconuts for hydration. Plants were negatively impacted, and some fruits were dropping prematurely. Some islands had reverse osmosis units (RO), but many were inoperable. Many islands, at the time, had only two to four weeks of water supply remaining if no rain fell. Rains were predicted to return around mid-to-late March and there were expectations for waning La Nina conditions during the next few months.
It was anticipated that even if the rain had started to fall for the most drought-affected atolls/islands the impact of the drought condition would continue for several months. It would have taken months for water sources to replenish, for water quality to improve, and for lost crops to be replanted and harvested. Importantly, although RMI can receive large quantities of rainfall, its storage capacity is limited, thus, groundwater supplies are very limited. It has been estimated that due to evaporation, only 50 per cent of the rain falling on Majuro contributes to replenishing the freshwater lens beneath the island.
Rains were predicted to return around mid-March based on long-range model output and the expectation was for waning La Nina conditions in June onwards. There were also conflicting signals about how long the drought would last in the northern Marshall Islands. Climatologists predicted that rain (more than 4"/month) was likely by April, but confidence was low about when rains would return. Based on all guidance, it seemed likely that rain would return around mid to late March.
Drought conditions did ease during May with the onset of some heavy rains. By June, however, dry conditions lingered with extreme drought persisting in Wotje, in nearby atolls, and islands north of Majuro while moderate drought affected Kwajalein and Ailinglaplap. During July and August, widespread rainfall across the drought-affected areas occurred, however, no official ending of the drought was announced by local authorities. The WASH cluster discontinued its operations in August and shifted its focus to the COVID-19 response, aligned with local government priorities.