Rainwater Catchments: A Solution to Water Scarcity

The Friends of Burkina Faso (FBF)/ Give Water Give Life (GWGL) Program - Rainwater Catchments: A Solution To Water Scarcity continues to advance its leadership role to increase the supply of water in the African Sahel.  Support from Global Giving donors enables our FBF/GWGL Project using the latest technology to make it possible for rural villagers to have a continuous supply of water effectuating economic development.

GWGL is pleased to announce formation of a partnership with WA-WASH, a non-profit organization affiliated with Florida International University, currently funded by USAID, and based in Ouagadougou.  WA-WASH provides villages services in water pumps, sanitation and hygiene - all benefits complementary to GWGL's program.  Give Water Give Life has our first employee, a Burkinabe engineer, as our Program Coordinator in Burkina Faso, and we are renting office space in the WA-WASH headquarters.  In addition, a team of local engineers has been organized to assist with the creation of  SaRP - a Sahel-led Resilient Prototype of village rainwater catchment basin.

Two tasks are underway.  The first priority for the use of accumulated GlobalGiving funds is to repair the basin built by GWGL in 2008 in the village of Sisene.  In 2012, a portion of this basin collapsed at one end due to strong storms.  The basin should have had an emergency spillway, known as a weir, that would have controlled water flow during heavy rains. Sisene residents tried to patch the breach in 2013, but they were not successul.  Currently, Burkina engineers are developing a plan to construct the weir and repair the damaged basin.  After obtaining estimates from several contractors, one will be chosen to implement construction.  Villagers participate directly in the selection process and the work.  Work is to be completed before the next rainy season, which wil begin in June 2015.

Second is the design of the prototype village rainwater catchment basin (SaRP). The prototype includes in its design: a weir (emergency spillway); use of satellite imagery technology to determine the most appropriate field location of the basin; technology to maximize water yse; deternination of the correct porosity needed to help restore the water aquifer; an irrigation system; a water filtration system; and a solar/wind system to generate power.  Applied research methods and alternative engineering and agricultural technologies are being analyzed to determine the best design of the "prototype" village rainwater catchment basin.  Both the rain collection basin in Sisene and the concrete bouli (pond) in the village of Djonga are included in the study.  Partners in the design process include the villagers; local engineers; representatives from the National Institute of Agricultural Research in Burkina Faso (INERA); the Burkina Faso Departments of Agriculture and Water; private solar engineering and water irrigation companies; university graduate students; and individuals. GWGL is convinced that collaboration among our partners is key to the creation of high impact solutions..

In October, a GWGL team member spoke about SaRP village rainwater catchment basins with technology at the UN Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa held in Marrakesh, Morocco.  Many attendees from other African countries expressed interest in village rainwater catchment basins for their own villages.  There is strong interest in the Give Water Give Life program due to the positive effects it has to improve the availability of water.  Researchers and practitioners at the Conference also affirmed the need to have contributions of villagers in the program.  Pressure to advance development of the prototype village rainwater catchment basin is building.

During visits with the INERA representatives and the village farmers in the village of Djonga, located in the northern desert area of Dori, we had extensive discussions about the appropriate design of the prototype basin.  The assistant director and water engineer with INERA enthusiasticaly stated:  "This is INNOVATION!  The technology you can bring us is innovation! We can now create rainwater catchment basins that will not only hold water year-round, but that are resilient and can be sustained by the villagers themselves.  I am working now for over 30 years as a water engineer in rural villages in Burkina and I know that this is exactly what we need!"

Thank you so much GlobalGiving partners!  Your support is critically important.