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Marshall Islands face acute water shortage
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/10/marshall-islands-acute-water-shortage
The Marshall Islands have declared a state of disaster in the north of the archipelago. Photograph: Doug Wilson/Corbis
About 6,000 people who live on the remote Marshall Islands in the Pacific are facing an acute shortage of fresh water as a severe drought worsens.
A state of disaster was declared in the north. Australia announced it would provide AU$100,000 (£65,335) for emergency desalination units. The US has also donated several reverse-osmosis machines, which convert salt water into fresh water.
There is no end in sight to the drought, with fine weather forecast for at least the next 10 days. The drought has also affected the food supply, hitting crops such as breadfruit, bananas and taro.
Casten Nemra, who chairs the national disaster committee, said many large families were surviving on as little as 4.5 litres of water a day.
