[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
dam-l Ethiopian home water-harvesting/LS
The Monitor - Addis Ababa
P.O. Box 4502, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia
Tel: 251 1 156400 | Fax: 251 1
512121
E-mail: themonitor@telecom.net.et
Water Harvesting At Household Level in Ethiopia
January 19, 1999
By Berhe W. Aregay
Addis Ababa - Now that the Belg (small rains) are here, many of us, and
that includes farmers, tend to quickly forget water
shortages we might have faced in recent past and begin to worry and
sometimes even complain about too much water.
In fact, too much water resulting in floods during parts of the year, and
too little water at others, even when the EL-Nino is not
involved, is nature's standing rule. There isn't nothing much man can do
about it. Water reservoirs like dams, ponds, river
diversions are, of course, part of the strategy to minimize the extremes of
too much and too little water. Even then, Mother Nature
has invariably the last word; for good or for bad. What we can change or
minimize can only be the drastic effects of droughts and
floods.
At household level, especially in the rural areas, some structures can be
built to conserve or harvest rain water, even if it's only a
tiny fraction of the total, from one's house roof. This might seem a little
far fetched, particularly when one is used to piped water.
But imagine, if you may, hundreds of thousands of households or even whole
communities, throughout the country, that
chronically have water shortages during a good part of the year; even
drinking water. And water for livestock, too. That is why,
perhaps, that conservation of water: roof, surface, underground, etc.
becomes a worthwhile and even a critical undertaking. This
new introduction (not a new technique, mind you, the Mesopotamians
practiced it) can enable households to save water that they
can use for drinking purposes for up to five months, and with an average
size reservoir. Such households might even have some
extra water to spare for garden plants.
As part of an effort towards this goal, a training in, "Roof Water
Harvesting" was organized jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and
RELMA (Regional Land Management Unit) of the Swedish International
Development Agency (SIDA) and a local NGO called
Water Action. This practical training in roof water harvesting techniques,
which took place in Nazareth, was attended by
technicians from the Regional Bureaux of Agriculture and NGOs. The number
of participants was 18 and the training took place
December 7-18. As a matter of fact, this is the second time that a training
with such a theme was given by these collaborators.
So far 11 reservoirs have been constructed at and around Nazareth, in
farmers homes. This technology has proved to be popular
with farmers and other people in the area and beyond. The only hitch seems
to be the cost. The water tank, water conduit system
and gutter do cost the kind of money that most farmers can't afford. The
next big challenge, therefore, for both these institutions
and others will be to bring down the expense. Some sort of study need to be
done to determine what alternative construction
materials and in what combination have to be used in order to lower the
cost. The institutes of research in the country, including
the Science and Technology Commission will hopefully consider this vital
need of farmers in their next annual research topic.
High dams and large reservoirs are certainly big time water engineering
projects. There is no question that we need them here.
But their reach will always be limited, particularly in the supply of
water, ;beside their being costly. Therefore, water harvesting in
situ (in place), will have an important contribution to make. Harvesting
the rain directly in the soil, in our backyards from roof tops,
run off from the surface, are some of the water conservation choices open
to people if they happen to be interested. When we
complain about water shortages, we should, perhaps remember that the amount
of water that falls as rain is in most cases more
than we know what to with. The thing is to capture it and save it.
Copyright © 1999 The Monitor - Addis Ababa. Distributed via Africa News
Online(www.africanews.org). For information about the content or for
permission to redistribute, publish or use for broadcast, contact The
Monitor - Addis Ababa at the link above.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Lori Pottinger, Director, Southern Africa Program,
and Editor, World Rivers Review
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703, USA
Tel. (510) 848 1155 Fax (510) 848 1008
http://www.irn.org
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::