The Stream, August 21, 2024: Saltwater Intrusion Sullies Fresh Groundwater on Vanuatu, Uprooting Residents

Restoration projects in the Kissimmee River Basin north of Lake Okeechobee are part of larger efforts to reduce nutrient pollution and send clean water south to the Everglades. Photo courtesy Brent Anderson/South Florida Water Management District via Flickr Creative Commons

YOUR GLOBAL RUNDOWN 

• Saltwater intrusion on Vanuatu is threatening both the health of coastal freshwater reserves, and the island communities who depend on these sources.
• A sodium cyanide leak into a waterway in central England is the latest spill for the country whose water pollution crisis remains in the national spotlight.
• Nearly an entire summer’s worth of rain fell on Vienna in just one hour over the weekend, triggering widespread floods and mudslides.
• In Dhaka, Bangladesh, wetland conservation is becoming an increasing focus for reducing heat accentuated by urbanization.

The multibillion-dollar Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir seeks to secure safe drinking water for Florida’s residents; its biggest challenge is a rapidly changing climate.

— Christian Thorsberg, Interim Stream Editor

Recent WaterNews from Circle of Blue

• Great Lakes Beach Closings Are No Protection From Harmful Pollutants — Updated water testing technology needed to make Great Lakes safer.
• U.S. Movement to Limit CAFO Pollution Emboldened by Michigan Court Ruling — State Supreme Court strengthens authority to prevent mammoth tide of manure from contaminating water.  

The Lead

The lowest-lying of the 83 islands which make up Vanuatu’s archipelago are struggling to keep their groundwater sources pristine, the Guardian reports. Saltwater intrusion is sullying their supplies. That is due to rising seas in the Pacific Ocean and cyclones that carry ocean water onto mainlands. 

Each island has different infrastructure and varying levels of protection. Some communities receive their water from pipes, while others rely solely on wells and pumps which rest mere meters from the coast. In 2017, at 150 tested groundwater sites across 11 islands, 10 percent were found to contain high levels of salinity. Seven years later, experts predict this number is higher, and that a greater number of inland residents will soon be affected.

Those who are currently getting by are dependent on rain collection. But often this supply becomes contaminated, a growing plight on Vanuatu. “People missing days of work or school because of diarrhea is not unusual… diarrheal diseases account for more than 25 deaths per 100,000 in the country and are the biggest killer of children under five years old,” the Guardian reports. Other residents are abandoning contaminated coastal sources altogether, and walking greater distances uphill in search of cleaner water.

This Week’s Top Water Stories, Told In Numbers

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Pounds of dead fish that have been removed from a canal in the central English town of Walsall following a chemical spill, the Guardian reports. A metal finishing company, Anochrome, is being held responsible for a sodium cyanide leak last week that closed 12 miles of a local waterway and was declared a “major incident” by authorities. Roughly 1,000 feet of the canal were contaminated, though the broader ecological impact is still being determined, authorities say. The spill comes as communities and environmental activists continue to demand that English waterways receive better protections and urgent care from the government. In 2023, there were 3.6 million hours of spills into the country’s rivers and seas, up from 1.75 million hours in 2022.

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Years since worse flooding has been recorded in Vienna, after record rainfall of more than four inches fell over the weekend in Austria’s alpine regions, Reuters reports. Water flowed into the capital and disrupted travel networks, homes, and businesses as nearly an entire summer’s worth of rain fell in just one hour. According to EuroNews, the overflowing of two high-elevation streams triggered mudslides at a local ski resort, sweeping cars and buses into buildings. More than 450 calls to the local fire brigade were made. 

On the Radar

Between 1993 and 2020, the “built-up area” in Dhaka, Bangladesh has increased by 67 percent. This growth has coincided with climate change-induced urban heating — built materials such as concrete and construction increasing the city’s “maximum land surface temperature” by more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit. To mitigate the intensity of these urban heat islands, environmental activists are pushing to conserve and protect the expansive network of waterways which encircle Dhaka. “Water can absorb and hold more heat than solid bricks and concrete, and so it regulates air temperature better,” Mongabay reports. 

Christian Thorsberg

Christian Thorsberg is an environmental writer from Chicago. He is passionate about climate and cultural phenomena that often appear slow or invisible, and he examines these themes in his journalism, poetry, and fiction.