International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance

Newsletter n° 16 - April 2006
"Rainwater is the Celestial Aqueduct"
Caribbean Islander proverb

Dear Rainwater Harvesters,
This edition contains information on:

• IRHA at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico
• Other news from Mexico
• Right as Rain, Thanks to WaterAid
• Harvesting the Silver Drops in Nepal
• Aid to Brazil's One Million Cistern's Programme
• Space Network to Track Rainfall
• Rainwater Harvesting in the News around the World
• And also…
• The Latin American & Caribbean Water Prizes - PLACA 2006
• New Publications
• Dates for your Diaries
• IRHA Membership
• Recommendations from Topic Session FT2.39 at 4th WWF

IRHA, CIDECALL & UNEP at the 4th World Water Forum & at the Alternative Water Forum in Mexico

The 4th WWF & associated water expo & civil society events were held in Mexico, 16-22 March. An estimated 15,000 people attended both events, the exhibitions & fairs in the Banamex Centre. A wealth of events were organised in the old town of Mexico City by civil society organisations, academic centres, indigenous communities & local governments. IRHA was active at both water events & at the ministerial stakeholder dialogue tables. IRHA was invited to the Technology Transfer table & expressed its hope that ministers & high officials will soon include RWH in their political agendas.

IRHA's topic session in the official programme (18th March), on "Rainwater, Watershed Management & Food Sovereignty" was attended by more than 120 interested & enthusiastic people. At the Swiss Fountain of Experience stand, IRHA held a proactive dialogue with numerous exhibition participants & visitors, & built new synergies with other Swiss organisations, while distributing bottles of "Luviatl" (CIDECALL's Purified Mexican Rainwater) to all. (www.cidecall.org.mx)


It is evident that RWH is becoming a key option for poverty reduction & ethical changes in water users' behaviour. The 2006 Mexico Forum was more open to RWH than the Kyoto Forum in 2003. The theme of RWH is now clearly accepted, but much more needs to be done to continue positioning RWH in the political agenda and to access financial support for implementing RWH projects.

The International Rainwater Catchments Systems Association was also present & held a session focusing on Ecosystem Management & RWH. These complementary approaches help position RWH within IWRM & make evident the need for new legislation & policies, & synergies between all the leading Rainwater Harvesting organisations.

The number of demands for RWH projects is growing & IRHA has been requested to collaborate & follow-up. In Mexico, IRHA has been invited to strengthen the bottled Purified Rainwater programme with CIDECALLI & Puebla State's Mixteca region watershed management programme. Potential partners in Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador & Peru have requested technical assistance to implement national programmes.

IRHA's "Blue Schools" concept & programme has been welcomed by several institutions. Further contacts with private sector & academic institutions during the WWF will provide new synergies to scale up RWH worldwide.

IRHA would like offer its warmest thanks to all the people & organisations that helped & participated with the Alliance to push forward rainwater harvesting at the forum:

- UNEP & CIDECALLI - co-conveners of the RWH session

- Practical Action; Stockholm International Water Institute, International Federation of the Red Cross & Stockholm University; UNEP/SOPAC - who gave presentations of Local Actions in the RWH session in the official programme;

- The Government of Puebla, Gender & Water Alliance, RAIN Foundation, UN-HABITAT Nepal & UNEP/SOPAC - as panel experts in the RWH session in the official programme;

- Ramsar Convention; World Meteorological Organisation; IRRI Mexico, University of Guadalajara; UNEP-Finance Initiative & Stockholm Environment Institute; RAIN Foundation - in the RWH session on the "Swiss Fountain of Experience" stand.

The large participation of the public at both IRHA sessions was very encouraging for the future growth & federation of the RWH movement.


Other news from Mexico

IRHA was invited to the Presidium in Puebla University for the launching of Alberto Jimenez Merino's book "Water for Development- more water for all". Congratulations to the author!

The field visit to the International Centre for Training & Demonstration on RWH (CIDECALL) in Texcoco, lead by Prof. Manuel Anaya, strengthened IRHA-CIDECALL plans for future collaboration in knowledge exchange in the region. Purifying & bottling rainwater from community based RWH systems provides new sources of income to rural populations in Mexico.


Right as Rain, Thanks to WaterAid

Imagine the worry of you or your child being ill & knowing you will not be able to see a doctor unless you can bring at least a 10 litre jerry-can of water with you. It is the dry season & you can't even get that amount for your whole family to drink, eat & wash with, & what water you can find is unsafe to drink.

Until recently, this was the situation for many of the poorest people living in Uganda's Wakiso district, not far from the capital Kampala. Although it has capacity for only around 50 in-patients & 60 out-patients at any one time, the long-established Buwambo Health Unit is the main health centre for this very densely populated area. It is under-staffed & under-equipped
&, tragically, lack of water for basic cleaning, washing & drinking meant that all the hard work of the staff was often in vain, as patients struggled against disease & infections. The situation was so dire that patients themselves frequently had to climb up & down a steep slope into a valley at the back of the clinic to get even dirty water from a broken-down pump shared with surrounding communities.

Now, with WaterAid's support, a local NGO, YIFODA (Youth Initiative for Development Association), has constructed a 30,000-litre rainwater catchment tank at the clinic. The new rainwater tank will provide enough water for the clinic's needs. The roofs of existing buildings channel rainwater through guttering into the tank, which filters & stores the water & dispenses it from a tap.

During peak times of the rainy season, the clinic director also allows neighbouring villagers to use the tap, as there is plenty to go around. To minimise pressure during the rest of the year however, YIFODA has also constructed a new hand-pump not far away, where it can be accessed at all times by anyone who needs it.

Now people who come to the clinic no longer have to climb to collect dirty water - instead they can come to be looked after with safe, clean water on tap. See: www.wateraid.org.uk


Harvesting the Silver Drops in Nepal -Prakash Amatya

Complain to the water supply managers at Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC) & they will tell you that they are in no position to adequately supply the Kathmandu Valley. Less than half of the valley's demand (90m litres/day) was supplied in the dry months. Tap connections only reach about half the urban household population.

The Millennium Development Goal to Nepal is a signatory, seeks to halve the proportion of people without access to drinking water & sanitation by 2015. That means NWSC will have to distribute 60,000 tap connections to cover half the un-served urban households by that year.

One emerging solution is RWH using time-tested ancient wisdom to avert the water crisis we are faced with. With the growing need to conserve the country's groundwater resources, RWH is the next best option to meet our water needs. Rainwater is free & decentralized, so why not make use of Nepal's average 1500mm/year of rain?

Nepal can make significant savings from rainwater harvesting. We should "re-appreciate" that RWH was part of our ancestors' lives & culture. Our ancestors valued rainwater for good reason. If they practiced it for centuries, why can't we? If the government succeeds in re-popularizing indigenous technology, experts say it could save as much as Rs. 2.8 billion annually in the Kathmandu Valley alone. That does not even include environmental benefits.
Assuming an average daily water demand of 100 litres/capita/day, NWSC must provide 1.4b m3 of freshwater every year for households, small businesses & institutions alone in Kathmandu Valley. This water is mostly extracted from groundwater reservoirs. At Rs. 4/1,000 litres that would be approximately Rs. 5.6b/year.

The two-day national workshop on "Rainwater Friendly Cities" conducted on 16-17 January highlighted that RWH could solve many of the country's water problems. The workshop was instigated by UN-HABITAT & jointly organized by the NGO Forum for Urban Water & Sanitation, the Department of Urban Development & Building Construction (DUDBC), the Municipal Association of Nepal, & WaterAid Nepal (IRHA was also in Kathmandu to contribute to this event). The organizers expect to generate awareness among all stakeholders, especially policy makers, on the potential & viability of RWH as a decentralized approach towards mitigating water crisis in Nepal.

The NWSC's Kamaladi office has recently installed a RWH system. The roof's 79m2 collects approximately 102,000 litres of water annually. Since the harvesting potential is much more than the storage capacity, the storage tank's overflow is used for groundwater recharge through a recharge pit (1m wide & 2m deep). A further roof area of 45m2 has been allocated which can harvest approximately 58,000 litres of rainwater for recharge. The DUDBC, which is responsible for the construction of all government buildings, also plans to construct a model RWH installation on its own building.

By installing affordable RWH plants, the NWSC intends to encourage individual harvesters to help meet the water shortages. The government's commitment to harvest rainwater on all its buildings to be constructed henceforth may start the practice of putting rainwater to good uses as this technology can become an effective means of solving Nepal's acute water shortage to a certain extent.


Aid to Brazil's One Million Cisterns Programme

The Presbytery of Mississippi, a unit of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has entered into a partnership with the Presbitario do Nordeste, a unit of the Independent Presbyterian Church of Brazil. One of the joint programmes of interest is participation the "One Million Cisterns" initiative of PROPAC, a consortium of Brazilian NGO. The 9 North-Eastern states of Brazil constitute the world's most densely populated semi-arid region, one in which almost all of the rural residents have no reliable source of clean water. For USD 400, a 16,000 litre masonry cistern can be installed at the home of a rural family. Gutters on the roof of the house or other buildings will channel enough water into the cistern during the brief rainy season of January & February to provide clean water for drinking & cooking until the next rainy season.

George T. Bates, Disaster Recovery Coordinator of the Presbytery of Mississippi, met with many families who have been beneficiaries of this programme. They are unanimous in declaring that nothing has ever happened to improve their quality of life so much as having a reliable source of clean water. They report much less illness among their children. The women of these households no longer need arise at 4 or 5 am to walk several kilometres & carry water (which was seldom clean) back home for the day's use.

The total of all cisterns installed by all PROPAC partners is now nearing 200,000. There is still a long way to go toward reaching the goal of one million but progress is steady. This is a programme which could be copied in many other areas of the world affected by the world's greatest health crisis, the lack of pure water.


Space Network to Track Rainfall

The US & Japanese space agencies are to launch a satellite network to measure rainfall around the world. The Global Precipitation Measurement project will provide three-hourly reports on rainfall. It aims to improve weather forecasting & understanding of how the global water cycle affects climatic change. Details of the USD 1.1bn project, due to begin in 2011, were presented at a conference in Vienna, Austria. For more on this story go to:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4872606.stm


Rainwater Harvesting in the News around the world

Current president of the Poitu Charente region & probable 2007 French presidential candidate for the Socialist Party, Mrs Ségolène Royale, has introduced a small incentive to rainwater harvesters in her region. Harvesters will get a 50 Euro bonus when they buy a tank for RWH.

The Arab Centre for the Studies of Arid Zones & Dry Lands (ACSAD) held a training course on RWH techniques, 14-28 February 2006 for 15 specialists from the Ministry of Water Resources in Iraq. The course, which was financed by UNESCO, was held at ACSAD's headquarters in Damascus, Syria & dealt with the following subjects:
- The new scientific methods of managing the water resources.
- Rainwater harvesting techniques.
- The use of mathematical models in designing RWH (WMS & HYDROMED systems).
- Introduction to the uses of the Geographic Information System in RWH.
For more information see: http://www.acsad.org/LatestActivities.asp


And also…

Water policy 'fails world's poor'. Almost 20% of the world's population still lacks access to drinking water because of failing policies, a report finds. See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/4787758.stm

A 'Barren future' for Africa's soil. Africa's farmland is rapidly becoming barren & incapable of sustaining the continent's already hungry population, according to a report. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/4860694.stm

Africa could face more droughts. Africa could be faced with 25% less water by the end of the century because of global warming, scientists warn. See:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/4769978.stm

A blog by Lisa Ayres of Tijeras, New Mexico, USA, dedicated to water conservation through the use of rain barrels for RWH, greywater recycling, & other water conservation products & methods. Her goal is to make water saving & recycling easy for people. See:
http://rain-barrels.blogspot.com/2006_03_01_rain-barrels_archive.html

There is now an entry on Wikipedia, the free Internet encyclopaedia. You can talk about the page, even edit it. This might interest the hardcore rainwater harvesters on the Yahoo RWH groups. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainwater_harvesting


The Latin American and Caribbean Water Prizes - PLACA 2006

The Water Centre for the Humid Tropics of Latin America & the Caribbean (CATHALAC) is now accepting nominations for the Latin American & Caribbean Water Prizes, PLACA 2006.
PLACA Water Prizes are awarded annually to individuals, communities, organizations, schools or business for outstanding local, national or regional water-related achievements. The underlying objective the prize is to recognize & share solutions to some of the most demanding water-related development issues in the region & honour efforts that help the region achieve the water-related Millennium Development Goals. The Prizes are awarded each year in connection with the Inter-American Water Day. Nominations must be received by 30 July. For nomination guidelines & procedure for 2006 PLACA Water Prizes please visit: http://www.cathalac.org/


New Publications

The International Water Management Institute along with 9 other partners, have produced a booklet entitled "Beyond More Crop Per Drop". Its main aim is to present opportunities in the water-food-environment nexus, in terms of specific interventions or intervention packages that have large potential net benefits for society. It begins with an initial look into what the situation with water resources is now & for the future & explores factors driving the water-food- environment situation. "Beyond More Crop per Drop" engages a wide-range of readers to think about concrete actions that can be taken by highlighting five key areas for action, including increasing blue water productivity; increasing green water productivity; increasing access to water resources; balancing water for food & other ecosystem services; & investing in water security to aid poverty alleviation.

Finally it proposes that certain cross-cutting actions such as IWRM, capacity building & continued research must also be undertaken to achieve the overall goals. Water action cannot be successful on its own but must be integrated into the overall approach to sustainable development. Contact Nadia Manning, Communications Coordinator/Researcher at n.manning@cgiar.org for more information or download from http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/wwf4/html/index.htm .


Dates for your Diaries

A conference on "Decentralised Water & Wastewater Systems" will be held at Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle, Australia, 10-11 July 2006. Download the conference brochure on http://www.etc.murdoch.edu.au/conferences/conf_dl_05/Decent06.pdf or for more information contact Dr. Kuruvilla Mathew, Director, Environmental Technology Centre, Murdoch University on K.Mathew@murdoch.edu.au . Topics include: Stormwater management; RWH; Water conservation & auditing; Water treatment; Simple water quality testing. Abstracts by 19 April, please. You can also visit the web sites:
Environmental Technology Centre: http://www.etc.murdoch.edu.au/conferences
Remote Area Development Group: http://wwwies.murdoch.edu.au/radg
Environmental Technology Centre: http://www.etc.murdoch.edu.au/
The American Water Resources Association (AWRA) holds its Annual Water Resources Conference 6-9 November 2006 in Baltimore. Submit your abstract by 15 May, please. AWRA is a professional association dedicated to the advancement of water resources management, research, & education. It promises a balanced, professional approach to solving water resources challenges in a friendly & comfortable environment. Its programmes & services are designed to serve as a centre of knowledge for the water resources community by providing new & innovative ways to solve real-life problems. For a complete list of presentation topics go to: http://www.awra.org/meetings/Baltimore2006/topics.html
The 4th International Conference on Fog Collection & Dew will take place in La Serena, Chile, 22-27 July 2007. Organised by "FogQuest", topics include: fog-water chemistry; effects of fog chemistry on forests; fog interaction with vegetation forests; fog-water chemistry at high elevations; fog interaction in forests & watersheds; fog collection &
instrumentation; fog physics & modelling; fog climatology; fog hazards & impacts on industry; fog-water collection projects; spatial patterns of fog; coastal fog chemistry & fog chemistry; fog impacts in desert environments; developments in fog droplet chemistry analysis; developments in the forecasting of fog; dew measurements in deserts; dew measurements & chemistry; meteorology & fog modelling. Contact: Conference Chair, Prof. Pilar Cereceda, Universidad Católica de Chile, dcereced@uc.cl or visit www.fogquest.org .


IRHA Membership

For more than 3 years IRHA has been increasingly acknowledged as a unifying & influential voice in the field of RWH. It has established relationships with many RWH organisations, NGOs, CSOs, UN agencies, international & government agencies, companies & individuals worldwide.

Please go to http://www.irha-h2o.org & click on the link to membership. With your help IRHA will continue to put RWH on the sustainable development agenda; to exchange ideas & experience; to influence policy at the international, national & local levels; to provide a vehicle for creating partnerships & to promote a globally representative approach, allowing regional & other variety.


This newsletter has been sent to:

• over 2,300 individuals & organisations of the IRHA network;
• over 3,500 readers of the International Institute for Sustainable Development - IISD Reporting Services Water-L list (www.iisd.ca);
• over 3,000 readers of International Association Trade Policy IATP (www.itap.org);
• over 500 members of Nepal's NGO Forum (www.ngoforum.np);
• and two very active Yahoo.com rainwater discussion groups

Thank you for the continuing positive comments and feedback on the newsletter.
Please do not hesitate to send us news and articles.
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Best regards from the IRHA Secretariat staff