Somalia: Where Pastoralists Harvest Water From Flash Floods

By Daniel Dickinson
21 September 2009

Nairobi — A raging torrent of muddy water courses down the scrub plains of the northern Somali Regional State in Ethiopia.

It washes down everything in its path -- trees, household trash and the erosion-prone sandy banks of the river.

The scene is readily associated with drought, but it eloquently sums up the challenges facing the region, where an intense rainy season lasts just a short period, giving way to months of dryness.

Thirty minutes before the tsunami-like flash flood, the river was a dry and dusty path etched into the grey sandy landscape.

A sudden and short storm overhead and more prolonged rain in the hills that climb dramatically into the distance, causes the abrupt rush of water.

For the largely pastoralist population of this area, the water is providing much needed relief after months of drought.

Now there are ample supplies to meet the needs of local households and the cattle, at least for a while.

The challenge for the pastoralists is to make the most out of the abundant supply of water during the rainy season and to ensure that the mud-colored water is safe to drink.

The answer is found at the top of the steep bank over-looking the flooded river.

A group of men, women and children are busy at a hand pump filling up jerry cans with sparklingly clean water.

"My family used to get sick a lot. I was always taking the children to the doctor for treatment," said a grandfather of 10, Ahmed Abukar. "But now we have fresh water that is safe and we are very healthy.'

The water pump serves the pastoralist communities of the northern Somali Regional State.

The communities here are constantly on the move in search of water and pasture for their animals.

Ahmed Abukar and his extended family will stay put for a number of months, benefiting from the abundant supplies of water.

The pump is the most visible part of a new water system that has been in place for about two months.

It pulls water from a dam beneath the sandy bottom of the dry riverbed.

A small stone wall stretches from one side of the river to another. And behind the wall, instead of water, is sand.

"When the river floods, water is collected and stored in the sand," said Hilina Mikrie, an agricultural economist [working for the NGO, Hararghe Catholic Secretariat].

"We call this a sub-surface or sand dam; it's an extremely effective way of harvesting and storing water."

And perhaps more significantly, the sand acts as a natural filter, transforming the brackish river torrent into clear, clean water that is fit for human consumption.

The dam, when full, contains enough water for pastoralist communities for up to four months.

It is a critical length of time as it enables these communities to survive the dry season when both pasture and water is in short supply.

The European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (Echo) funded the dam as part of its regional drought preparedness program.

The head of Echo's Ethiopia office, Jose Tamarit, says the dam has provided a life-line to pastoralists.

"Before there was no water here in the dry season. As a result, pastoralists had to travel further, their animals were less healthy and there was a high chance that they would get into conflict with other communities in search of water."

The regional drought program has been running since 2004 and includes not just Ethiopia but also Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda.

The program, which has a budget of €10 million ($13.7 million) in 2009, is meeting some of the every day needs of pastoralists but also addressing more fundamental issues about drought, according to Jose Tamarit.

"Climate change means weather patterns are irregular and drought conditions more frequent, but this is only part of the problem," he said.

"Population growth, a reduction of grazing land and the death of animals means that pastoralists are less able to cope with climatic shocks.

The drought preparedness program helps them to cope better."

Back at the water pump, a steady stream of people leave with jerry cans full of water, confident that, in the coming months, whatever the weather, they and their animals will be healthy and safe.

Source: allAfrica.
Link: http://allafrica.com/stories/200909230820.html.