Information about Indian Ocean Countries

Resource: http://www.eoearth.org/article/Western_Indian_Ocean_Islands_and_freshwater_resources

The Western Indian Ocean (WIO) islands are separated by large expanses of ocean and do not share any freshwater resources. Freshwater resources vary considerably across the islands.

Madagascar can be divided into two major basins - one draining to the west into the Mozambique Channel and the other draining to the east into the Indian Ocean. Water in Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles is primarily extracted from rivers on the main inhabited islands through the construction of dams and reservoirs, while the islands of Comoros are heavily dependent on groundwater resources. The islands are subject to tropical storms or cyclones with heavy rainfall from November to May giving rise to periodic flooding. Despite the relative abundance of rainfall, the islands also experience periods of water shortage.

There are large variations in rainfall across the countries and this has implications for available freshwater resources. All the countries experience extended dry seasons with periods of heavy rain, torrential at times, which present technical problems for storage, treatment and distribution.

Endowment and opportunities

Wetlands occur throughout the island states. These wetlands are important habitats that provide breeding grounds for large numbers of waterfowl. These natural assets make the island states ideal tourist destinations.

On the Mauritius island of Agalega, 1,000 km north of Mauritius main island, the use of groundwater is declining for domestic or agricultural purposes, because of saltwater intrusion and land pollution; rainwater harvesting from pitched roofs is proving a problem because of fecal contamination from birds.

In the areas of public awareness and information, and economic measures, such as metering and charging for water use, there are opportunities to further curtail the demand for freshwater.