Australia is providing more water to the people of Tuvalu following a severe drought on the Pacific island.
Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs Richard Marles announced that Australia and New Zealand today delivered a shipment of 450,000 litres of water to Tuvalu's main island of Funafuti.
'This much-needed water will fill government storage facilities and enable households to access more water in Tuvalu,' Mr Marles said.
'Australia has also provided two water delivery trucks to help distribute water to communities, schools and hospitals. This will meet the immediate water needs of the island.'
Tuvalu declared a state of emergency on 29 September 2011 after a severe drought affected local food crops and led to water rations of 60 litres per household per day.
Mr Marles said Australia and New Zealand will provide a second shipment of 600,000 litres of water if the drought worsens.
This builds on earlier support from Australia, including the Australian Defence Force's assistance to fly a large desalination unit from New Zealand to Tuvalu, capable of turning 50,000 litres of seawater a day into clean drinking water.
'This unit significantly increased water supply on Funafuti, including water delivered to schools and community water distribution centres, meaning children have now been able to return to school,' Mr Marles said.
Australia is also:
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providing two desalination units capable of holding 10,000 litres of water per day, with the first due to arrive in Funafuti in November
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co-funding a 40,000 litres per day desalination plant with the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Nations Development Programme, due to be operational in Funafuti in December
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supporting an outer island needs assessment mission to ensure water, health and food needs across all of Tuvalu's nine islands are being met
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replenishing stocks used by the Tuvalu Red Cross, including water containers, hand sanitisers and other goods, to respond to the crisis.
Despite some rainfall in the past few days, forecasts indicate the chance of further rain will remain low. Australia will continue to assess the situation to determine if further assistance is needed.
Media enquiries: Parliamentary Secretary's Office (02) 6277 4330; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Media Liaison (02) 6261 1555; AusAID Media: 0417 680 590