Lessons learned in WASH response during urban flood emergencies

This paper is intended for WASH technical advisors and personnel involved in planning and delivery of WASH programmes in urban flood emergency situations. Material in the paper is based both on a rapid review of literature, and on outputs from a learning workshop held in Haiti in March 2009. The workshop was attended by international inter-agency WASH advisors and practitioners and allowed for sharing of experiences from Haiti and other urban flood emergencies. The focus of the Haiti workshop was on WASH responses, with an emphasis on three words: Flooding, Urban, and Technical. This paper aims to: capture good practices and lessons learned in WASH response to flooding in urban contexts; and identify associated common technical challenges and gaps. This paper identifies various lessons that can be learned from the experiences of relief agency staff when responding to urban flooding emergencies. The paper does not claim to be comprehensive, but can serve as a helpful document, which captures some important lessons to help improve future responses to floods in urban areas, and which can be added to in the future. In addition, these lessons have provided a framework for the development of technical guidance materials to support technical learning in the sector

Fish species as eco-indicators in the comparative ecological characterisation of two creeks in the Central Niger Delta, Nigeria

Fish species have been used to compare the ecological characteristics of two surface waters in the same geo-ecological zones of the Central Niger Delta. The authors carried out 24 ecological expeditions along the Kolo and Otuoke Creeks in the Study Area for the purpose of comparing the ecological characteristics of these two surface waters that are in the same geo-ecological zone. Duplicate ecological surveys were conducted across three fishing seasons in the Study Area, and the traditional eco-livelihoods knowledge of experienced fishermen was explored during the survey to ensure that the surveys captured the spatial and temporal variation of fish species distribution of these creeks. The result of our study shows that there was no significant statistical ecological differences between the Kolo and Otuoke Creeks based on the following ecological indices: relative species percentage abundance; species richness; species diversity index; Shannon diversity index; and Simpson diversity index. Furthermore, the Bray-Curtis similarity index was used to demonstrate that the two surface waters were ecologically significantly similar. The implication of our findings is that the ecological attributes of surface water in the same geo-ecological zone are not significantly different in the absence of major environmental noise or human induced stress. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Using rapid assessment techniques in development of WSPs

This paper explains the important contribution that rapid assessment techniques (RATs) can make to the development of generic WSPs and associated programmes (for example sanitation promotion programmes) in a region or country, by assisting in identifying potential risks associated with individual water source types or supply technologies, from chemicals, or from management practices. The techniques are equally applicable to all types of water supply – from spring sources and hand-dug wells, through community-based boreholes, with hand or mechanised pumps, to large urban utility supplies, but especially in developing countries

The Native American voice in United States water rights

There is a sacred relationship between Native Americans and the environment. The importance of those sacred beliefs in water rights in the United States (US) is examined through a series of case studies. A thorough review of available literature displays a trend toward less dependence on the US for representation and a greater recognition of Native American traditions. The increased role of Native Americans in water rights quantification and resource development provides greater appreciation and understanding of their traditions and beliefs

“Good dredging practices” : the place of traditional eco-livelihood knowledge

Livelihoods of most residents of rural communities in developing countries are often dependent on surface water resources. The use and management of this vital resource should be as much as possible equitable for sustainable development to be achieved at local levels in these countries. Inland river dredging is a water resources management strategy usually aimed at improving water courses for navigation, land reclamation and or mitigate flood in the dredged catchment. Dredging operations like most development projects have impacts that are often localised, and benefits that could be local, regional or national. “Good dredging practices”, GDP, in industrialised countries have been aimed at balancing national/regional economic benefits, technical feasibility and environmental protection. These practices rely heavily on the quality, and quantity of relevant base-line data available. In most developing countries there is a dearth of baseline data, and most often national/regional economic gains do not necessarily translate into local livelihood benefits. Hence, the basis of GDP should be extended to incorporate local livelihoods priorities, without ignoring the relevance of scientific data when it is available, the issue of technical feasibility, environmental sustainability and economic viability. This approach is relevant to the demand for equitable development in the developing world; could be used in conjunction with traditional eco-livelihoods knowledge (TELK) in developing or determining appropriate approaches for sustainable surface water resources management, as well as reducing environmental conflicts between stakeholders

Relationship between rainfall and microbiological contamination of shallow groundwater in Northern Mozambique

Outbreaks of contamination events in many developing countries occur during periods of peak rainfall. This study presents evidence of direct pulse response of shallow groundwater contamination events to rainfall in Northern Mozambique. The objective of the paper is to establish both a statistical relationship between rainfall and contamination and to analyse the pathways through which runoff resulted in contamination. To achieve this, data from 25 wells were monitored over a 12-month period in Lichinga, Northern Mozambique, and then compared to historical rainfall from the previous 8 years. Categorical (soil survey) and parametric (water quality, rainfall, depth-to-water-table) data were further collected before, during and after the 4-month monomodal rains. Using logistic regression statistics, three distinct conclusions were drawn from the study. Firstly, the study demonstrated a direct pulse response between increased numbers of presumptive thermotolerant coliforms and enterococci bacteria. Secondly, the study observed high risk of contamination through localised, as opposed to aquifer pathways, and thirdly, the study noted a higher survival function and stability of presumptive enterococci bacteria as compared to presumptive thermotolerant coliforms in the environment and at depth

River use profile of the Central Niger Delta based on traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK)

The Central Niger Delta is made up of a network of rivers and creeks that constitute the inland surface waters. These surface waters have historically influenced settlement patterns and are of diverse use to residents of the Central Niger Delta. Surface water like many ecological system are complex, whose complexity has been associated with seasonal variability. Traditional knowledge (TK), traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and the traditional eco-livelihood knowledge (TELK) of residents of four rural communities in the Central Niger Delta have been explored in developing a river use profile of rural communities of the Central Niger Delta. A questionnaire survey has been carried out in four communities, two each from the Otuoke and Kolo Creeks. The result shows that river use varies across seasons and affected by: physico-chemical water quality and characteristics of surface water; the hydrological characteristics; the biological / ecological characteristics; cultural use and demand; need for development projects; and access to this vital resource. Fishing constitute one of the major livelihood source in the Central Niger Delta and the TELK of fishers in the sample communities have specifically been explored to understanding fishing patterns across seasons. The five seasons identified from this study are: flood season; flood recession season; dry season; early rainy season; and rainy season. Therefore, the thesis of this paper is that there is the need to balance the current usage of surface water in the developing world such as the Central Niger Delta with the demand for development as well as future use if development is to meet the criteria for equitable development. The river use profile could be a promising tool in planning for equitable development

Rapid assessment of drinking water quality: a handbook for implementation

Water is a basic human right as recently re-clarified in General Comment 15 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The importance of water for health and development has been reflected in international policy initiatives since the International Decade for Water Supply and Sanitation Development (the 1980s). This was further emphasised by the Millennium Declaration Goal to halve the proportion of the World's population that lacks access to water supply and most recently the identification of water and sanitation as a highest priority issue by the Commission for Sustainable Development. Since the 1960s, WHO has periodically reported on the development of the access to safe drinking-water sources; this is now implemented as a joint programme of work with UNICEF through the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation. In recent reviews and evaluations the need for JMP to progressively address new and emerging priorities has been highlighted. As part of the ongoing plan of work of JMP, a major initiative to more comprehensively take account of water quality issues has been initiated. This handbook has been developed as a resource to support the systematic evaluation of drinking-water quality status at country and local levels. It is hoped that it will be useful to those interested in describing and understanding drinking-water quality status in the context of JMP at national/state levels and on a project basis

Basic services in peri-urban areas

Provision of basic services for peri-urban areas creates various problems, and often receives less priority than similar work in rural or urban areas. This paper describes some of the characteristics of peri-urban environments and outlines some of the means available for provision of services. Various social, technical, institutional and economic problems that may be encountered when planning projects to provide basic services for peri-urban areas are then identified. Finally, some possible solutions are proposed for overcoming the various problems

Rapid asssessment of drinking-water quality: a handbook for implementation

The JMP Rapid assessment of drinking-water quality (RADWQ) was conceived by WHO and UNICEF to explore the quality of drinking-water from "improved" sources. Results in five pilot countries showed a wide range of conditions, from full compliance with the WHO Drinking-water Quality Guidelines to specific sources in a given country only meeting standards in 34% of the samples. Further efforts along the lines of RADWQ will take global water quality testing out of the strict sphere of monitoring into the broader field of capacity development. The RADWQ handbook describes the methods and procedures applied by WHO and UNICEF in the five countries, for adoption by any authority or institution that wants to prepare a snapshot of the quality of "improved" sources of drinking-water, as a first step towards strengthening drinking-water quality regulations