News and Public Notices

The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG)- through the Disaster and Emergency Services of the Department of Community Government, elevates the call from the PNG National Weather Services placing Bougainville on Drought Alert status following increasing concerns over prolonged below-normal rainfall associated with the current El Niño event.

Current climate information indicates an 80–90 percent probability of below-normal rainfall across Bougainville during September–November 2026. The El Niño conditions are also expected to remain active through the remainder of 2026.

The situation is being treated as an elevated drought and water-security risk, rather than normal seasonal conditions, with particular concern for water supplies, food gardens, food security and remote island communities.

Potential Impacts

The prolonged dry conditions may place additional pressure on already vulnerable communities and could result in:

• Further depletion of rainwater tanks and other household water sources;
• Reduced agricultural and food-garden production;
• Increased pressure on household food supplies;
• Increased demand for emergency water assistance;
• Deterioration of water quality;
• Increased health and nutrition risks; and
• Increased humanitarian and logistical requirements, particularly for remote communities.

The ABG is particularly concerned about fragile outer-island communities, where limited access to alternative water sources, transport and essential services can increase vulnerability to prolonged dry conditions.

Priority Areas for Monitoring

The Nissan-Atolls and other outer-island communities in Northern Bougainville will receive priority monitoring and preparedness attention because of their existing vulnerabilities and exposure to climate-related risks.

Other parts of Bougainville such as South and Central Bougainville may experience differing weather patterns as compared to North and Nissan Atolls areas of Bougainville.

However, the drought risk is being monitored across the entire Region. Communities may experience different levels of impact depending on rainfall deficits, the availability of water sources, crop conditions and household food stocks.

Immediate Preparedness Actions

The Directorate of Disaster and Emergency is coordinating with relevant Districts, Community Governments, and other Departments to strengthen preparedness and monitoring.

Over the next 2–4 weeks, the following actions will be prioritised:

1. Maintain HIGH WATCH status for drought and water-security risks through information from the PNG National Weather Service and localised monitoring.
2. Conduct rapid assessments in vulnerable locations, particularly areas already showing signs of water shortages, crop stress or food insecurity.
3. Strengthen weekly drought monitoring and reporting through Districts and Community Governments.
4. Finalise the Drought Contingency Plan to identify priority preparedness and early-response actions for the ABG.
5. Escalate monitoring and preparedness in RED-priority outer-island communities, particularly where declining water sources and food-security concerns are reported.

Call for Community Preparedness

The Department of Community Government and District Affairs has activated the monitoring and reporting from Community Governments, District administrations, sector leads in ABG, partners to support the process to ascertain the situation in Bougainville over the next few weeks and months as the PNG National Weather Services continues to provide the overall situation report.

Communities are encouraged to monitor household water supplies, protect available water sources, conserve water, monitor food gardens and report emerging shortages or other drought-related concerns through their respective Community Governments and District authorities.

The public is also encouraged to follow official information and advisories issued by the PNG National Weather Service and the Autonomous Bougainville Government and to avoid relying on unverified information.

Operational Status

The current operational decision is to maintain Bougainville at HIGH WATCH for drought and water-security risk through 2026, with RED priority monitoring and preparedness for fragile outer-island communities.

The Department emphasises that the current alert is intended to support early action and preparedness. It does not mean that all communities are currently experiencing severe drought conditions. Rather, the forecast indicates a heightened risk that requires early monitoring, assessment and contingency planning before conditions deteriorate further.

The Directorate of Disaster and Emergency will continue to provide updates as new rainfall, climate and community assessment information becomes available.

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