PAGO PAGO, American Samoa — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter stationed in Honolulu is helping bring 36,000 gallons of drinking water to a small island-nation in the South Pacific suffering from severe drought conditions.
Tokelau, made up of three atolls, had about seven days’ worth of fresh drinking water left, the Coast Guard said Wednesday. About 1,500 people live there.
The island groups of Tuvalu and Tokelau have declared emergencies, relying on bottled water and seeking more desalination machines. Parts of Samoa are starting to ration water. Supplies are precariously low after a severe lack of rain in a region where underground reserves have been fouled by saltwater from rising seas that scientists have linked to climate change.
Denver Post wire services
