Nikumaroro Island's Freshwater Sources: Lagoon and Streams

Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner Island), a remote coral atoll in the Phoenix Islands, Kiribati, does have fresh water. The island features a central Te Namo Lagoon, a brackish-to-freshwater body fed by rainwater percolating through the porous coral rubble and sand. The lagoon's salinity varies with rainfall and tidal flushing; during wet periods, it becomes potable. Additionally, several freshwater seeps and shallow wells exist where the freshwater lens (Ghyben-Herzberg lens) floats on denser saltwater. These were critical for the 1930s Phoenix Islands Settlement Scheme colonists and are central to the hypothesis that Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan may have survived there briefly in 1937. However, the lens is fragile—overuse or drought turns it brackish. The island has no perennial streams or springs.