Module 2: Water Harvesting and Development for Improving Productivity

Water harvesting is used to indicate the collection of any kind of water for domestic, agricultural, or other ______.

For water harvesting structures to be successful, the village communities must participate in the planning and construction of the structures and accept responsibility for their ______ and management.

Water harvesting was first used in Australia by HJ Geddes to denote the collection and storage of any farm water either runoff or creek flow for ______ use.

A major reason for the low and erratic rate of growth in agricultural production is the highly uncertain and unpredictable rainfall, combined with low soil ______.

Even in years of ‘average’ rainfall, a shortfall during critical periods of crop growth often leads to widespread crop ______.

Module 2 Water harvesting and development for improving productivity Prepared by: Seleshi Bekele Awulachew (IWMI) Philippe Lemperiere (IWMI) Taffa Tulu (Adama University) Supported through: Improving Productivity and Market Success (IPMS) of Ethiopian farmers project International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia January 2009          ILRI INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK RESEARCH INSTITUTE i Table of Contents Introduction 43 Chapter 1 Rainwater harvesting 44 1.1 Roof harvesting 44 1.2 Runoff harvesting 46 1.3 Floodwater harvesting 49 Chapter 2 Construction of rainwater harvesting tank 50 2.1 Selection of site for the tank construction 50 2.2 Tank construction procedures 50 2.3 Best practices of operation and maintenance 54 Chapter 3 Water harvesting techniques 56 3.1 Micro-catchments 56 3.2 Macro-catchments 74 3.3 Flood harvesting 82 3.4 Storage 85 References 89 41 Introduction It is well known that the pressure on land is increasing every day due to population growth, causing more and more use of marginal lands for agriculture. Agriculture is only possible when there is availability of water. By water harvesting during rainy seasons, water availability can be __________.

Agriculture is only possible when there is availability of __________.

By water harvesting during rainy seasons, water availability can be __________.

Water harvesting techniques include micro-catchments, macro-catchments, flood harvesting, and __________.

The pressure on land is increasing every day due to population growth, causing more and more use of marginal lands for __________.