A woman in Africa carries water from the well to her house.
Rajasthan is blessed with a monsoon season, when water is plentiful and life is good for one season. But every year, the villagers would watch in sadness as the land dried up, since the water did not drain properly and saturate the desert soil. They hardened themselves for the coming drought.
When Rajendra Singh arrived in Bhikampura nineteen years ago, he wondered why such hardworking, intelligent people did little to improve their lot. Partially it was the promise of the government and the companies building pipelines: soon, they said, you will have enough water. Soon, we will build pipes to your village. But it never happened. Rajendra decided to help the villagers help themselves, and he mobilized them to work together to build a reservoir to collect rainwater during the monsoon season. Today, the reservoir collects water, and water seeps into the earth through the sides of the reservoir. As the water in the pond dries up, the groundwater seeps back into the pond, replenishing it. And it works. After a five-year drought in 2002, the earth around the pond was still full of water.
Through collective effort, water no longer dominates the day-to-day life of people living in Rajasthan. In 1984, women — who are responsible for providing water for their families — were obligated to spend their days in search of water. For the first time in years, girls have enough free time to attend school. Shops are springing up in villages that only a decade ago were in danger of extinction. As more than 500,000 people in Rajasthan are now practicing rainwater harvesting, the entire region has begun to flourish. "I believe," prophesizes Singh, "if this work [is] done all over, the poor of this country will rise." Today, however, private companies want to buy up the reservoirs and canals that the villagers have worked so hard to build and maintain. The Indian government maintains that private enterprise will provide water more efficiently than the government. But villagers, now self-sufficient, are wary of turning control of their water resources over to anyone.
Next: Fog Catchers »
Scientists have targeted 47 locations in 22 countries around the world where the conditions are good for fog harvesting.
In 1987, the International Development Research Center, along with NGOs in Chile and the community of Chungungo, instituted fog harvesting to tap into the ocean's bounty. Fifty large nets were erected on the ridgeline above the village. In 1992, the system was functioning well enough to pipe the water into the village. From the beginning, it was a community-supported initiative: the collectors are managed and maintained by a local committee, and each household pays a small fee for the water they use. Each household is encouraged to conserve water because if they greatly exceed the average monthly water consumption, the fee increases. In this way, poor households can afford water, and people are discouraged from abusing the new source of water.
The fog harvesting technique was intended as a supplement to the water brought in by truck, but by the first year, the village had become completely sustainable — the truck never had to come. Since then, the water supply has more than doubled, and the truck has only had to deliver water during extreme droughts. The main source of water in Chungungo has become community-supported fog collection, not national pipelines.
Fog catchers in Peru set up nets. See more pictures of fog catchers in Ecuador.
As in Rajasthan, where the easy availability of water freed up labor and allowed girls to attend school, Chungungo underwent a dramatic transformation. The city started experimenting with more demanding and more fruitful crops, and a public park was created in the village center. Everyone insists that it was the local involvement that allowed the new system to flourish. According to the project leader, Pilar Cereceda, "It is so important to involve the community not only so that people know about the project, but so that they are involved in building the collectors, in maintaining the collectors, in organizing a local water committee, and in donating their labor to keep water costs at a minimum. This system depends on the clouds, but if people know how to use this simple technology and organize themselves well it will really work."
The technology that was tested in Chungungo has been either adopted or is under consideration in 25 countries around the world. New fog collection projects are underway in Yemen and central Chile, while other projects are being evaluated in Guatemala, Haiti, and Nepal. (Find out more about these projects at the FogQuest website.) Sadly, in the past few years, the fog catchers in Chungungo have fallen into disuse and disrepair. The reasons for this are still being evaluated by those who deemed the project a success in the mid-to-late nineties. As it stands now, the residents of Chungungo have gone back to receiving water delivery from expensive trucks.
Some say that the community was not involved enough in the process. Others say the project was chaotic and disorganized from the start. All agree that the rapid population growth in Chungungo, from 300 to 900 people in about 10 years, required more water than the fog catchers could provide, making is seem like they weren't working properly.
The lessons of Chungungo are two-fold. Fog collecting works, but only if the local community is involved and committed to an alternative technology.
Rainwater Harvesting
Rainwater Harvesting
Years of plundering the Aravallis forest to the north of Rajasthan, India brought short-term wealth to its owners but parched the fertile valley below. Without the trees guarding the entrance to the valley, rainwater eroded the topsoil instead of seeping into the ground. A once bountiful farmland saw poverty set in as people fled to nearby cities. The determined few that remained were left to trek miles daily, laden with heavy jugs, in search of drinking water. When they managed to find water in the dry season, it was far away, nearly dried up and always filthy, but they had no choice but to carry it back to their families. Water and the search for water dominated daily life in Bhikampura. Villagers had little time for leisure, education, or economic development when mere existence was such a struggle.
A woman in Africa carries water from the well to her house.
Rajasthan is blessed with a monsoon season, when water is plentiful and life is good for one season. But every year, the villagers would watch in sadness as the land dried up, since the water did not drain properly and saturate the desert soil. They hardened themselves for the coming drought.
When Rajendra Singh arrived in Bhikampura nineteen years ago, he wondered why such hardworking, intelligent people did little to improve their lot. Partially it was the promise of the government and the companies building pipelines: soon, they said, you will have enough water. Soon, we will build pipes to your village. But it never happened. Rajendra decided to help the villagers help themselves, and he mobilized them to work together to build a reservoir to collect rainwater during the monsoon season. Today, the reservoir collects water, and water seeps into the earth through the sides of the reservoir. As the water in the pond dries up, the groundwater seeps back into the pond, replenishing it. And it works. After a five-year drought in 2002, the earth around the pond was still full of water.
Through collective effort, water no longer dominates the day-to-day life of people living in Rajasthan. In 1984, women -- who are responsible for providing water for their families -- were obligated to spend their days in search of water. For the first time in years, girls have enough free time to attend school. Shops are springing up in villages that only a decade ago were in danger of extinction. As more than 500,000 people in Rajasthan are now practicing rainwater harvesting, the entire region has begun to flourish. "I believe," prophesizes Singh, "if this work [is] done all over, the poor of this country will rise." Today, however, private companies want to buy up the reservoirs and canals that the villagers have worked so hard to build and maintain. The Indian government maintains that private enterprise will provide water more efficiently than the government. But villagers, now self-sufficient, are wary of turning control of their water resources over to anyone.
Next: Fog Catchers »
Find out more about Rajendra Singh and his rainwater project at rainwaterharvesting.org, the Tarun Bharat Sangh organization's website and in the Resources area of this site.
More Related Links
Rainwater harvesting isn't just happening in India, take a look at this rainwater harvesting program in Austin, Texas.
BBC: Rural Solutions Around the world there are thousands of success stories in the fight to provide clean water to the world's poor. Access 4 from Africa here.
Fog Catchers
Fog Catchers
The village of Chungungo in Chile may be a fishing village, but it is nevertheless in one of the driest places of the inhabitable world. Located in the jagged cliffs overlooking the majestic Pacific Ocean, water is plentiful -- just not fresh water. For decades, water has been delivered to the village on trucks coming from other, lusher, parts of the country. The Chungungo villagers were constantly conscious of the scarcity of drinking water.
In 1987, the International Development Research Center, along with NGOs in Chile and the community of Chungungo, instituted fog harvesting to tap into the ocean's bounty. Fifty large nets were erected on the ridgeline above the village. In 1992, the system was functioning well enough to pipe the water into the village. From the beginning, it was a community-supported initiative: the collectors are managed and maintained by a local committee, and each household pays a small fee for the water they use. Each household is encouraged to conserve water because if they greatly exceed the average monthly water consumption, the fee increases. In this way, poor households can afford water, and people are discouraged from abusing the new source of water.
The fog harvesting technique was intended as a supplement to the water brought in by truck, but by the first year, the village had become completely sustainable -- the truck never had to come. Since then, the water supply has more than doubled, and the truck has only had to deliver water during extreme droughts. The main source of water in Chungungo has become community-supported fog collection, not national pipelines.
As in Rajasthan, where the easy availability of water freed up labor and allowed girls to attend school, Chungungo underwent a dramatic transformation. The city started experimenting with more demanding and more fruitful crops, and a public park was created in the village center. Everyone insists that it was the local involvement that allowed the new system to flourish. According to the project leader, Pilar Cereceda, "It is so important to involve the community not only so that people know about the project, but so that they are involved in building the collectors, in maintaining the collectors, in organizing a local water committee, and in donating their labor to keep water costs at a minimum. This system depends on the clouds, but if people know how to use this simple technology and organize themselves well it will really work."
The technology that was tested in Chungungo has been either adopted or is under consideration in 25 countries around the world. New fog collection projects are underway in Yemen and central Chile, while other projects are being evaluated in Guatemala, Haiti, and Nepal. (Find out more about these projects at the FogQuest website.) Sadly, in the past few years, the fog catchers in Chungungo have fallen into disuse and disrepair. The reasons for this are still being evaluated by those who deemed the project a success in the mid-to-late nineties. As it stands now, the residents of Chungungo have gone back to receiving water delivery from expensive trucks.
Some say that the community was not involved enough in the process. Others say the project was chaotic and disorganized from the start. All agree that the rapid population growth in Chungungo, from 300 to 900 people in about 10 years, required more water than the fog catchers could provide, making is seem like they weren't working properly.
The lessons of Chungungo are two-fold. Fog collecting works, but only if the local community is involved and committed to an alternative technology.
Images used with permission from the IDRC.
Learn more about the science behind fog catching and what went wrong in Chungungo at the International Development Research Center website.
Watch a video of the fog catchers in Chile on the CNN site.