Micronesia Sun Bright News from the Deep Pacific
Photo Sources: Australian Embassy, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Chewy Lin Photo
By Christopher Cottrell
May 29, 2026, Marshall Islands___ The Australian Defence Vessel (ADV) Reliant has recently delivered critical aggregate, sand and bricks to Enewetak to support critical water infrastructure support.
Consisting of 40 small islands around a central lagoon, Enewetak faces rising sea levels and water contamination from Runit Island’s nuclear disposal site.
The consortium of delivery at Enewetak also involved RMI Environmental Protection Authority, and United Nations Development Programme volunteers over four days, with the ADV Reliant making sixty hauls, according to a statement from the Australian Embassy, Marshall Islands.
The RMI Environmental Protection Authority Outreach was grateful, issuing this statement, “When you have partners that genuinely care, it shows — not just in words, but in action. The Australian Embassy in the Marshall Islands has been instrumental in helping RMI EPA deliver water catchments and supplies to some of our most isolated communities, including Enewetak Atoll, Wotho, where access is one of our greatest challenges.”
It added, “And when RMI needed support during COVID, Australia stepped up in a big way, contributing $2 million dollars in mandatory contributions while RMI recovered (and eventually paid those). This project UNDP EPA ACWA Project became the RMI Government’s largest water project to date.”
UNDP EPA “Addressing Climate Vulnerability in the Water Sector (ACWA)” project is a seven year project (2019-2026) that the Marshall Islands to, “adapt to increasing climate risks, particularly more frequent and extreme droughts, which impact the country’s water supply for drinking, cooking, hygiene and sanitation,” according to the UNDP.
Moreover, the project address:
“• Improving household and community rainwater harvesting and storage structures to increase resilience of water supply in all outer islands and atolls, accounting for approximately 28% of RMI’s population currently at risk
“• Securing groundwater resources from contamination due to inundation caused by wave overtopping of seawater.
“• Strengthening the technical capacities of national and subnational institutions and key stakeholders to integrated climate change risks into water governance processes so that management of climate change risks are coordinated, effective, participatory, equitable, and sustained over the long-term when risks are expected to worsen.”
The ADV Reliant crew also showed community youth support by giving local students soccer balls, cricket bats, hula hula hoops and other sports equipment to raise spirits.
As the RMI Environmental Protection Authority Outreach summed it up by stating that this, “kind of partnership means everything to a small island nation. We are deeply grateful to Australia for standing with us — not just in policy, but on the ground, where it counts most.”
