Angaur residents face drinking water crisis and lost income as El Niño drought deepens

By: L. N. Reklai KOROR, Palau (Oct. 24, 2026) — Angaur residents are struggling to secure drinking water and maintain their livelihoods as a prolonged drought linked to a super El Niño threatens Palau and much of the western Pacific. Surrounded by seawater, salty inland lakes and wells with brackish water, Angaur is facing a growing water crisis. Despite having water all around the island, residents depend on drinking water transported from Koror, while the dry conditions are making it harder to find crabs, grow crops and earn income. Melanie Santiago, an Angaurian facing challenges caused by unusually long dry spell. Each week, Angaur State transports residents’ water containers to Koror to be filled with drinking water at no cost to the people. But the service depends on boat transportation and is vulnerable to weather and other conditions that can interrupt deliveries.

An Angaur resident traveling to Koror said she counted 82 five-gallon containers and 20 three-gallon containers during the last boat trip. The containers are normally transported about once a week, but the boat had not returned for two weeks, raising concerns about the growing demand for drinking water. “I think there will definitely be more containers since the boat has not been back for sometime,” she said. The delay highlights the challenges residents face in securing enough safe water as the drought continues. “We have water tanks,” said Melanie Santiago, an Angaur resident who sells ukaeb, or processed land crab meat, to supplement her formal income. “But with little rain, we don’t have much water and what is in there is not safe, so we need to get fresh water from Koror. ” Wells remain available, but residents question water safety Angaur’s main water source is its underground wells. Although…