Extreme droughts in the Western Pacific region are expected to persist over the next three months.

Parts
of the Marshall Islands, Guam, Palau, Mariana Islands, and the Federated States
of Micronesia (FSM) are now designated under extreme and exceptional drought.

These
conditions are causing a massive strain on agriculture, water supply, and daily
life for residents in FSM’s Yap Proper, the atoll of Wotje in the northern
Marshall Islands, and other nearby islands in the Marshalls.

Guam
weather service forecaster Joshua Schank told RNZ Pacific that while the region
expected the last four months to be dry, the current El Niño weather pattern
has intensified conditions.

“The
rainfall across our region just kind of stopped for many places,” Schank
said.

“Much
less rain than they should get to be able to keep up water levels at a healthy
level.”

The
El Niño event, which brings wet weather to southern US states and the Gulf of
Mexico, causes dry conditions in the Western Pacific often causing droughts.

“From
December through January, February, and now March and April, parts of
Micronesia have experienced very little rainfall, even compared to normal, for
the dry season,” Schank said.

The
last El Niño event recorded in the region was in 2015.

The
forecaster explained these weather patterns are becoming more difficult to
predict, with each El Niño event responding differently.

“Other
factors contribute to the strength of other (weather) patterns such as the
Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO), the Indian Ocean Dipole, or other climate
patterns that help influence and affect how the El Niño develops during each
year.”

Residents
across the region have reported agricultural strain, with staple crops such as
taro patches yellowing and coconuts drying up.

The
region was also hit with a king tide and trade winds last month, which caused
crop damage across the Marshall Islands and the FSM.

The
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has labelled the situation dire. An
estimated 16,000 people, 40 percent of those being children, need food and
water.

RNZ
Pacific correspondent in Guam, Naina Rao, said the water supplies have all but
run out.

“Some
of these islands’ community water tanks are broken, and water wells are
low,” Rao said.

“As
a result, they’re running low on drinking water because of these water
shortages.”

Access
to communication and the internet in Guam is only possible when aid ships
arrive on the island. RNZ Pacific spoke to Guam resident Larry Raigetal, who is
from the island of Lamotrek in Yap.

Raigetal
said he last spoke to his family in Yap a week ago, who told him the residences
were ‘limiting and rationing as best as they can.’

“They
are using water only when necessary people are reserving a lot,” he added.

“Some
people are bathing in the lagoon, in the ocean just to avoid having to use
fresh water.”

The
weather service also warned of the ‘threat of wildfires.’ A major wildfire,
early this month, destroyed five acres of a popular outdoor recreation park on
Cocos Island, in Guam.

While
the authorities were investigating the situation, RNZ Pacific correspondent Rao
spoke with the weather office, who confirmed the fire ‘was related to the very
dry conditions of the region.’

Wildfires
have also been reported in Palau, Yap in FSM, and Pohnpei in the Marshall
Islands.

Throughout
the prolonged drought response efforts have been carried out by the disaster
coordinating offices, out of FSM and the National Disaster Management Office in
the Marshall Islands.

Several
relief vessels have also supplied water, food, as well as reverse osmosis (RO)
units; water purification systems capable of producing 360 litres of clean
water per day.

A
number of international humanitarian organisations have become involved in the
situation, including; Catholic Relief Services, the US Agency for International
Development (USAID), UNICEF, and the UN’s International Organization for
Migration.

A
week ago, at the request of the US Embassy, the United States Coast Guard
delivered drought relief supplies to the most affected areas.

The
Australian vessel Reliant was dispatched with 116,000 litres of fresh water,
for drought response in Pohnpei earlier this month.