Rainwater Harvesting Network - East and Southern Africa and South Asia

The 18 nations forming this network are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Rwanda, Somaliland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. While working together, CSE will focus on the south Asian region while RELMA will cover eastern and southern Africa. The central programme strategy is knowledge sharing through face-to-face conversation.

Specifically, to launch the programme, two officials from RELMA travelled to India to share and replicate experiences with RWH. The trip began at the Rain Centre in Chennai, where the officials were oriented as to what RWH involves. The visitors then went to see the 600-year-old temple tank located at Pammal, 20 km south west of Chennai, talking to local people about the revival efforts. Next, at Village Thalambedu, the officals looked at the tank management efforts of the Madurai-based NGO called the Dhan Foundation. Neerkattis (water managers) shared age-old water management practices. A local water expert in Maharashtra acquainted the guests with the key role that watersheds play in rural India life. For example, the village Raj Samadhiyala has enough water to irrigate, despite years of water scarcity. One of the officials invited the ex-sarpanch and the initiator of the water works in that village to visit Africa to share his work. Finally, at Laporiya in Rajasthan, the officals explored the work of a local leader who has developed chauka (dykes) for managing pastures and water.

The network is also using information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a tool to find and exchange information, research tools, case studies, and rural and urban technology-based solutions. The Rainwater Harvesting website offers a number of resources to support network members' work and to alert them to upcoming events and new ways of thinking about rainwater harvesting.

Rainwater Harvesting, Partnership.

Organisers cite the following reasons for harvesting rain in areas where there is inadequate groundwater supply or surface resources are either lacking or insufficient:

• Harvesting helps in utilising the primary source of water and prevent the runoff from going into sewer or storm drains, thereby reducing the load on treatment plants.
• It reduces urban flooding.
• Recharging water into the aquifers helps improve the quality of existing groundwater through dilution.

RELMA is a Nairobi-based international organisation. Founded in 1980, CSE is an independent, public interest organisation based in New Dehli, India that aims to increase public awareness of science, technology, environment, and development. CSE is the 2005 winner of the Stockholm Water Prize in recognition of outstanding efforts in promoting water issues in India. To celebrate this, CSE and RELMA will be convening a seminar at the World Water Week (click here for a summary of this event).