A Hidden Resource: Household-led Rural Water Supply in Ethiopia

Self supply as a strategy for WASH is defined as "improvement to water supplies delivered largely or wholly through user investment usually at household level." The two research studies reported on in this paper examined self supply in rural Ethiopia, gaining insights on the performance of existing family wells, factors that affect the decision of families to build their own wells and the way they use them, and elements of the enabling environment that can be targeted to promote self supply

The nature of small-scale farmer managed irrigation systems in North West Province, Sri Lanka and potential for aquaculture

RRAs were carried out in two Small Tank Cascade systems (STCs) of North West Province, Sri Lanka (less than 1000 ha total watershed area). A total of 21 tanks and 7 villages were investigated with primary emphasis on two upper watershed communities. The two systems differ primarily in their resource base; namely rainfall, natural forests and proximity to large scale perennial irrigation resources. [PDF contains 86 pages

Taxing Fracking: Proposals for Ohio's Severance Tax

Outlines the proposal to raise the state's severance tax on oil and gas extracted by fracking and return most of the revenues in income tax cuts, concerns with the proposal, and recommendations for using the severance tax to restore jobs and services

Groundwater Irrigation System for Sustainable Agriculture

The aim of this project was to develop a prototype that may be a model to help relieve food insecurity in rural Liberia. This was accomplished by designing a groundwater extraction, recharge, and irrigation system to facilitate year-long crop-growth. The project was in partnership with BRAID Africa and a community in Zwedru, located in east Liberia, near the border of Côte D’Ivoire. During 2010 and 2011, a civil war broke out in Côte D’Ivoire and led to the citizens of the country taking refuge in Liberia (Leaf 2015). Many refugees have decided to stay in Liberia and are struggling to maintain food security as most subsist on rice with not even enough to sell. Currently, villagers in Zwedru only grow the rice in swamps during the rainy season and, with climate change, the rainy season is becoming increasingly unreliable (USAID 2012). The irrigation system that was designed for this project has allowed villagers to grow certain crops, such as cassava, okra, chard, and squash, during the dry season which will help alleviate food insecurity with the goal of providing a source of income for the farmers. This project was designed for a one hectare (2.47 acres) plot, which can be scaled up or down depending on land area and available resources

Social Accountability for Safe and Sustainable Domestic Water Provision in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro

This paper reports the full results of a baseline survey on access to water for domestic use and social accountability in four districts of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, and Morogoro, a provincial town around 200 kilometres west of Dar. From 7th to 29th March 2018, the survey team interviewed 2,164 adults about their access to water, perceptions of water quality, sanitation and hygiene facilities, readiness to pay for water services, social accountability for water provision, civic engagement and social demographics. The survey included core questions developed by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene, as well as questions on social accountability and civic engagement developed in previous rounds of the Afrobarometer, Asian Barometer, European Social Survey and Twaweza’s SzW survey programmes. Details of sampling procedures are provided at the end of the report

The Wister Mud Pot Lineament: Southeastward Extension or Abandoned Strand of the San Andreas Fault?

We present the results of a survey of mud pots in the Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area. Thirty-three mud pots, pot clusters, or related geothermal vents (hundreds of pots in all) were identified, and most were found to cluster along a northwest-trending line that is more or less coincident with the postulated Sand Hills fault. An extrapolation of the trace of the San Andreas fault southeastward from its accepted terminus north of Bombay Beach very nearly coincides with the mud pot lineament and may represent a surface manifestation of the San Andreas fault southeast of the Salton Sea. Additionally, a recent survey of vents near Mullet Island in the Salton Sea revealed eight areas along a northwest-striking line where gas was bubbling up through the water and in two cases hot mud and water were being violently ejected

Circular 24

This is a preliminary issue. A letterpress publication is planned for 1961.Selecting a suitable homestead is not simply finding a good piece of land to farm. Personal and social needs must be met, as well as those of farm oper­ations. Since each family has different standards, goals and needs, the selection should be made by you and your family only after careful inspection and consideration

Stormwater-Pavement Interface in Cold Climates

This project relates to “managing stormwater runoff in cold climates” and addresses the feasibility of low-impact development at a regional demonstration site in eastern Washington. The studies relate to seven large permeable pavement systems. The findings for similar climates and soils are as follows: The draindown times for retention in Palouse or similar clay soils may handle many typical storms. On average, every square foot of a permeable pavement system installed also receives run-on from another square foot of impermeable pavement, doubling its impact on both stormwater quantity reduction and stormwater quality improvement. Most of the clogged sections on various applications were downslope of other areas. Permeable pavements installed in areas targeted for additional stormwater quantity control and quality improvement may be feasible. On average, the cleaning for installations is less frequent than annually. Power washing plus vacuuming appears to be an effective method for pervious concrete. Surface distress was usually where vehicles turned, or from placement activities. Preliminary studies on various surface treatments on pervious concrete show promise for added safety benefits under wintry conditions. Both detention-type and retention-type permeable pavement systems appear to have little negative impact on neighboring soils in the winter under the study conditions. However, further research is needed for different designs of retention-type systems to ensure that water volumes in the aggregate storage bed do not allow for sufficient water flow into neighboring soils that might result in ice lens formation or other negative impacts