By Tupuola Terry Tavita

The continuing water crisis affecting parts of the country offers up no long-term remedial solutions in the foreseeable future.

Because, in essence, we are dealing with population, an infinite consumer, and land, a finite resource.

So unless Mother Nature opens up the oceans and conjures up more islands for Samoa, we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Literally.Like anywhere else in the world, as populations grow, so will the demand on – and for – land. More and more, human settlement and farming will encroach on crucial rain forests and waterways.

As populations concentrate on urban centers, demand for agricultural produce will soar.Where do you think we get all that talo, bananas and ta’amu at Fugalei market?

Or that beef at the shop? It’s there because a farmer had to go into the bush, cut down trees, clear vegetation, plant, farm and harvest.So as watershed areas are cleared for farming, less water is stored in the depleting rain forests and even less water gets to the village and homes.

The water cycle is very simple. It rains in the hills and the water flows to the sea.  Minus the rainforests – that also creates its own respiration as well as store water – we have a crisis in our hands.  Government can nationalize these watershed areas, but, how do you feed the growing mouths in years to come?

Take my village Tanugamanono for instance. A hundred years ago, there were just three families numbering 150 people at the most. The land area has remained the same but the population has ballooned to over 2000 individuals. Some families have settled on farmlands which are also, quickly, overcrowding.  We have approached government for more land up in the hills, which, are part of crucial watershed areas at Afiomalu.

But what can we do?

We need land to live, to farm and develop to create a needed income. Samoa’s population, now at 189,000, is expected to double in 50 years.  That is, not double, but exponentially four times the current consumption rate to be addressed by 2061.

The impact of this soaring demand is extrapolated by the multi-faceted impacts of climate change on our natural environment.

Meaning there will be more severe droughts and declining water resources from our already depleting rainforests. There are no easy solutions to our water crisis.

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