The Contribution of Rainwater Harvesting to Disaster Risk

The Contribution of Rainwater Harvesting to Disaster Risk Reduction Consultative Meeting on a “Global Network of NGOs” UN-ISDR Geneva 25 -26 October 2006 IRHA International Environment House 2 Chemin de Balexert 7 -9 1219 Geneva, Switzerland

Rainwater Harvesting is one of the most ancient activities in the history of mankind Human beings have always sought to settle near water Whether in dry or wet areas, they had to learn how to find and save water as it is a limited resource Human beings learnt to meticulously harvest every raindrop Build simple constructions to store the collected rain and use it rationally

Practicing Rainwater Harvesting is valuable under different disaster conditions • In areas with heavy tropical rains and prone to floods • In arid and semi-arid zones prone to droughts • An appropriate rainwater management is necessary for the protection of the ecosystems

• The two « hazards » - flood and drought should be integrated into a wider risk management system

Use of Rainwater Harvesting • for urban development and natural resources preservation • for rural development and food security • for disaster reduction

IRHA – The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance consists of a network of NGOs with members in different continents IRHA Members’ Focus areas : IRHA Secretariat Activities: 1. 2. 2. 3. 4. 5. 5. A. Project Implementation; Household and productive uses; Sanitation and hygiene; Watershed management; Food sovereignty and soil conservation; Aquifer recharge and ecosystem conservation; 6. Disaster risk reduction and 7. reconstruction. RWH into IWRM policy B. Training and knowledge transfer; C. Federating the RWH movement; D. Positioning RWH in national and local political agendas.

IRHA Secretariat, Regional Focal Points and Activities in Different Continents

A Community Based Initiative: Rainwater Harvesting in the Municipality of San Antonio de Lomerio, Bolivia Objectives: • Reduce the vulnerability of the population towards the shortage of water by improving the infrastructure • Capacity Building (Environmental Education and training of RWH managers) Duration: • September 2005 to October 2006 Funding Source: • Service de Solidarité et de Coopération du Canton de Genève Budget of the Project: • 16’ 000 USD Partners: • Green Cross International and American Peace Corps

Construction of Water Tanks The goal is to construct 25 water tanks of 10 m 3 each At the end of August 2006, 21 reservoirs had already been constructed

Capacity Building of 15 community members Along with the construction of the water tanks, 15 community members were trained on how to construct them. In this case sustainability could be reached after the project was finalised. This also contributed to the empowerment of community members Another result of that was to train 15 rainwater harvesting managers

Training Workshops The resilience of community members was a result of: • Decreasing the number of skin and gastrointestinal deseases; • Stressing the importance of hygiene to the health and well being of the population; • Focusing on the importance of environmental preservation; • Introducing the Swiss system of purification of water « SODIS » All of these factors contributed to disaster risk reduction

Impact of RWH on Disaster Reduction: • In the case of a drought, assured access to drinking water and enlarged possibilities for yielding crops; • Avoids the danger of gastro-intestinal epidemies and diminishes child mortality because of improved hygiene; • Assures water reserves for fire protection; • In case it is practiced on a larger scale, it contributes to flood reduction; • In post-disaster conditions, offers the only clean water; • Benefits not only human beings but the environment in general.

Thank you for your attention www. irha-h 2 o. org Vessela Monta (Executive Director) vessela@irha-h 2 o. org Adelia Branco (Steering Committee Member) adeliabranco@terra. com. br