MUS Group meeting 2011 in Rome
From 31 May - 1 June, the yearly MUS Group meeting was held in Rome, hosted by IFAD. During the preceding MUS Group meeting in November 2010, the MUS Group discussed planning and implementation guidelines, as developed by several of its members. Based on this, a commitment was made to consolidate more generic planning and implementation guidelines for MUS. This year's MUS Group meeting therefore focused on discussing these generic guidelines further. To feed the generic guidelines with practical experiences, NGOs, research organisations and IFAD (host), shared experiences in applying the MUS approach. Objectives of the meeting were:
- Sharing of experiences in MUS implementation
- Furthering work on generic planning and implementation guidelines for MUS
- Sharing IFAD’s experiences in MUS and exploring opportunities for collaboration on MUS.
A summary for generic MUS guidelines was presented on “how to” do MUS. Four MUS entry points were presented:
- Domestic-plus: near/at homestead; more water to ‘climb the water ladder’, 3-5 lpcd safe water.
- Irrigation-plus: add-ons for access, year-round storage/supplies, groundwater recharge, fish-crop, ecosystem services
- MUS technologies by design -individual/communal (e.g., rope-and-washer pumps, hybrid gravity systems, tanks/reservoirs, point-of-use treatment, soil and water conservation)
- Community-driven MUS by design: participatory planning for multiple uses and sources; increasingly integrated in local government for scaling
For full information, see the report and minutes.
RAIN receives 44.000 euro grant from "Stichting 2015"
On the 23rd of June RAIN was awarded a grant of 44.000 Euros by the “Stichting 2015” for the implementation of three sand dams for multiple use in Ethiopia. These sand dams are a component of a larger project in collaboration with the Dutch water boards Velt & Vecht and Hollandse Delta, which will run from 2011 to 2013. The project aims to provide water using sand dams. The water from the dams can be used for cattle breeding, small-scale agriculture as well as clean drinking water. Next to this, the project focuses stronly on governance and management of water supply from sand dams.
Each year ”Stichting 2015” from the municipality of Hardenbeg, selects projects that contribute to the MDGs. This year RAIN Foundation, Vitens-Evidens and SOS kinderdorpen were the lucky nominees. The check was handed over by the mayor of Hardenberg to Robert Meerman from RAIN, at the yearly hot air balloon festival in the municipality of Hardenberg.
Out now: Water Management in Motion
Since TheWaterChannel was launched in 2009, it has been receiving frequent requests that some of the videos be made available on discs. Most of this demand came from educational institutions in developing countries, where internet connectivity is often slow and limited. TheWaterChannel carried out among members of Cap-Net, the international network for capacity building in IWRM, a survey to assess the exact nature and extent of this demand. Based on the findings, we recently developed ‘Water Management in Motion,’ a set of 6 DVDs containing videos and learning material covering important issues under 6 themes: IWRM; Climate Change; Water Pollution, Water Quality and Waste Water; Rainwater Harvesting, Recharge, Retention and Reuse;Groundwater Management and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene.
The package can be used for educational and training purposes, conference screening, capacity building activities, and as advocacy tool. It will be distributed free of cost among individuals and institutions engaged in water-related education. We thank all the producers who contributed their videos. This project was supported by Cap-Net, GWP, IFAD,NUFFIC, RAIN, UNESCO-IHE and WGF. If you would like a copy, visit www.thewaterchannel.tv/watermanagementinmotion for more information
Micro-credit and rainwater harvesting discussed at IRC symposium
More than 120 sector professionals gathered from 27 countries in The Hague to discuss and debate under the banner of the IRC Symposium 2010 “Pumps, Pipes and Promises”. Over three days - from 16-18 November - they presented, heard and discussed almost 40 papers related to costs, finances and accountability.
The IRC 2010 Symposium reflected a shift in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector towards the primacy of services over infrastructure, understanding the need for much greater clarity in planning and financing services that reach people with the regularity and quality they demand.
In particular it demonstrated the need for data that can be understood and used by those who make decisions about finance. One of the key questions was what are the best models for financing construction costs and maintenance and support costs? RAIN presented a paper about micro-credit and rainwater harvesting. Read more…..
RAIN 3R session at the Stockholm World Water Week 2010
RAIN is co-hosting the session ‘The Potential of 3R to Improve Water Quality and Quantity’ at the Stockholm World Water Week. This session will be held on Sunday 5th of September, from 9:00 to 12:30 hrs in room K11 at the premises of the Stockholm World Water Week.
The event is organized by the Rainwater Harvesting Implementation Network (RAIN), Acacia Water, MetaMeta, the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Germany (BGR) together with Southern & Eastern Africa Rainwater Network (SEARNET) and The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). Furthermore it is sponsored by Aqua for all (A4A) and the Cooperative Programme on Water and Climate (CPWC). Read more...
For more information about 3R, please visit www.bebuffered.com
For further information, including how to get to the venue, please visit: www.worldwaterweek.org
Pilot started in Nepal on rainwater for securing water, food and energy
BSP-Nepal and IDE Nepal have joined hands early 2010 to develop a pilot on rainwater harvesting for securing water, food and energy in rural and remote villages in Nepal. Although rainwater harvesting storage capacity often seems to be a limiting factor to make multiple use of rainwater economically and financially feasible, it is found that people tend to manage the water from the rainwater harvesting system very efficiently. A rainwater storage system of 10 cubic metres is sufficient to provide a family with water for drinking and other small domestic uses for a whole year (based upon 5 litres per person per day). The main goal of this pilot is to assess the possibilities and limitations of using rainwater for drinking water, biogas production and irrigation in order to support a livelihood approach in rainwater harvesting projects in rural areas in Nepal. Read more...
