RWSN March Headlines

2015 Early Webinar Series + Rainwater Harvesting

What is a webinar? It is an online presentation where you can hear a presenter, watch their slides and have the opportunity to ask questions. If you cannot attend the live event, a recording is usually posted online.

RWSN has started 2015 with a series of ten webinars about groundwater, self-supply approaches and equality.  Presenters from more than 15 different organisations, working in over 15 countries are sharing their practical experiences and research findings.  Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions, and meet others with similar interests. You can register for one, or several webinars by following the link:  http://tinyurl.com/RWSN2015A

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Sustainable water resources management in Sri Lanka: present situation and way forward

by Senevirathne,   Assistant General Manger (Sociology), Sociology Section, NWSDB

Sustainable Water Resource Management

Sustainable water resource management has become a crucial factor for the socio-economic development of Sri Lanka that faces seasonal variation and competition among water users. One of the biggest concerns for our water-based resources in future is the sustainability of the current and even future water resource allocation. The latter part of this paper describes the current practices taken for water resource management with a view to updating sustainable strategies and putting them into practice.

It is true that making the sustainable development of our water resources is a challenge in Sri Lanka when considering the climatic changes, pressures from economic growth, the rising population, and increasing water consumption. The combination of these factors commonly results in increased water use, competition and pollution. Therefore, attention and concern must be given to collect, compile and gain knowledge from consumption, pollution and generate data of experimental value. This paper describes the main aspects of what has been learned in the process of supporting sustainable water resources management. Continue reading “Sustainable water resources management in Sri Lanka: present situation and way forward”

No crystal ball, but insights on how rural water systems change

Carmen da Silva Wells's avatarwater services that last

It’s hard to predict what impact investments and innovations in the water sector will have on citizens’ access to services. Understanding underlying mechanisms and potential bottlenecks of change can help decide how and where to invest resources, while also giving a more realistic picture of the time scale required.

capture-20150218-122025 Many interventions do not follow a straight line and have unintended consequences.

Carmen and Deirdre describe innovative work being done by IRC to better understand how water service delivery systems evolve and steps towards developing a bottom- up model that illustrates the potential long term systemic effects of individual level change.

Read more Will innovation lead to change? Darwin gives some pointers

An agent based model shows how individual actions give rise to new macro-level patterns, or emergent outcomes that are otherwise difficult to predict. An agent based model shows how individual actions give rise to new macro-level patterns, or emergent outcomes that are otherwise difficult to predict.

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What is the big deal about manual drilling anyway?

Let me tell you a not-very-well-kept secret. My PhD research some 15 years ago was on manual drilling. That was what took me to Uganda in the first place and taught me how to link social science, business development and technology. For those of you who don’t know what it is, manual drilling refers to several drilling methods that rely on human energy to construct a borehole and complete a water supply. These methods can be used in areas where formations are quite soft and groundwater is relatively shallow. And by the way, the “Pounder rig” as we called it worked, but it never took off in Uganda (the details are in my thesis).
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Opinion: Failing To Learn From Experience

Water Journalists- Africa's avatarWaterSan Perspective

Angella Naturinda and Lynna Abaho
January 28, 2015

Weather experts predict a continuation of the current hot and dry weather conditions in most parts of Uganda. This weather condition which started immediately after Christmas has come with several challenges such as food and water shortage, wildfire, siltation, soil erosion, pests and diseases which are causing devastating loss to farmers especially those in south western region.

For several decades now, the South Western part of Uganda has experienced such dry conditions during the month of January that stretch up to March. What is so surprising is that people in south western region are not learning from this annual experience.

Some of the worst affected people are farmers and residents of Kiruhura district found in the Ankole cattle corridor of Uganda.

Most of the people in Kiruhura are pastoralists and therefore the dry spell means that their livestock lack pasture and water…

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Sharing is Caring: The Emerging Framework for Sharing Water Point Data

Webinar – February 5, 2015 – 11:00am  EST

On behalf of the Water Point Data Exchange, we invite you to join a one hour webinar on Thursday, February 5 at 11:00am EST. This webinar will provide an exciting update on sector-wide efforts to support  the sharing of water point data across diverse stakeholders.

This webinar will provide an exciting update on sector-wide efforts to support the sharing of water point data across diverse stakeholders. Harmonizing this data has the potential to provide unprecedented opportunities for learning from the past and managing water services well into the future.

Starting with a background on the objectives of this initiative, the webinar will also provide an update on the progress made to date and the next steps in the development of the Water Point Data Exchange. Participants will be introduced to the current draft standard and also learn how they can to help shape the standard as this work moves forward.

 Click here to register.

 

Brian Banks

Director of Strategic Initiatives

Global Environment & Technology Foundation

2900 S. Quincy Street, Suite 375

Arlington, VA 22206

Phone: (703) 379-2713

Email: Brian.Banks@getf.org

Handpump standardisation in sub-Saharan Africa: Seeking a champion

by Jess MacArthur, IDE Bangladesh

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Download the new RWSN Publication “Handpump standardisation in sub-Saharan African”

As a millennial, I have to admit: I really enjoy technology and innovation. I love to read innovation blogs and to dissect innovation theory. So just over two years ago as I began researching how innovation intersects development in the world of handpumps, I felt a bit stumped. An estimated 184 million people in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) today rely on handpumps for their domestic water and many of these use designs that were developed before I was born. Yes, that makes me young and maybe that make you feel old. But mostly, it made me sit back and think. Is this beneficial or is this concerning? At the time I was helping Water4 navigate the policy-sphere around new handpump integration.  I wanted to know why certain handpumps have more dominance in certain areas and how innovators can pilot in the sector with both evolutionary and revolutionary designs.

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WÉBINAIRES – DÉBUT 2015: INSCRIVEZ-VOUS! WEBINARS – EARLY 2015: REGISTER NOW

Registration/inscription

À la demande générale, nous avons programmé une nouvelle série passionnante de wébinaires en ce début 2015. Ils auront lieu tous les mardi du 27 janvier au 31 mars inclus.

Back by popular demand, we have an exciting new series of webinars for early 2015, every Tuesday from 27 January to 31 March.

Plusieurs wébinaires sur la collecte des eaux de pluie sont également en cours de programmation par le RWSN et le Canal de l’Eau (TheWaterChannel) – nous vous tiendrons régulièrement informé(e)s à ce sujet.

There will also be more webinars on rainwater harvesting from RWSN and TheWaterChannel – look out for further announcements.

Continue reading “WÉBINAIRES – DÉBUT 2015: INSCRIVEZ-VOUS! WEBINARS – EARLY 2015: REGISTER NOW”