Water levels at dams around the country remain healthy despite the prolonged dry weather conditions says water Authority of Fiji (WAF) chief executive officer Opetaia Ravai.
The CEO is however urging members of the public to continue using water sparingly as weather conditions are expected to affect the country for the next six to eight months.
“I would like to encourage people during this prolonged dry spell that we are going through to use water conservatively and ensure it is on a needs basis and not waste this resource as every drop is precious,” Mr Ravai said.
“The water in the dams have not reached critical levels as yet but at the moment we are continuing monitoring them on a regular basis. The water level in the small dam is a challenge and for that we have other supplementary sources so there is no need to worry at this stage.”
He added that WAF continues to monitor levels at its dams closely by recording changes to the consumption levels as rainfall remain below average in the western and northern parts of the country.
Mr Ravai said WAF will continue to assist all Fijians facing water shortages through carting and other means.
“This is a commitment that the Government has made and the WAF, as an implementing agency, will take water to people who need it.
“There is no other source that they can rely on especially when they have wells or bore holes drying up and they need water so we will cut water to them,” Mr Ravai said.
WAF is working closely with the various divisional commissioners and the district officers that are providing feedback on the water shortage areas in Nadi, Lautoka and throughout the Western Division.
“We are aware of the fact that we need to keep in close contact with the Dos and the Commissioners so that we are able to improve and extend our water carting measures and areas. That is continuing and we also have weekly updates on the situation on the ground from our regional staff.
“We encourage those that are facing issues with their water supply in the rural areas to contact their Provincial Administrators or their District Counsellors and DO’s in the various towns so that this channel of communication is kept open and we will continue to assist them in the best way that we can.
“In the long term, we are looking at extending our reticulation network to cover some of these areas. A lot of these houses are isolated so it is quite difficult for water trucks to cart water to them on a continual basis. We are looking into this and for the long term, we plan to extend our coverage,” Mr Ravai added.
Press Release