the solution for Somalia's droughts

[samadoon-waaxid]

is building more and more water catchments to catch all the rain water that runs off to the indian ocean.its much cheaper than deep water wells and certainly much better than waiting for charity water trucks.here is a good example of a community water pond in Buuhoodle.this catchment can hold close to 2.5 million gallon,and last 10,000 people for 3 months.if more of those are dug up before every rain season we would eradicate the effect of drought in somalia in time

[damu]

[samadoon-waaxid]

[Executive]

Masha'allah smart Idea.


damu is so predictable, cuqdadisa meel kasto la so booda.

[RovingMadness]

Are you sure that water reserve can hold enough rain water for a city or settlement of 10,000 for 3 months? That seems very promising and an effective solution to drought, ic it is the case.

[gurey25]

maashallah...

what would be even better is to combine this with micro dams and and an underground qanaat system like ancient persia and present day oman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanat

There is more than enough water in northern somalia for its current population and for agriculture...

we just need to invest heavily in infrastructure

[samadoon-waaxid]

exec:this Damu character waan ka yaabay sxb,he got problems
rovingmadness:10,000 is how many people it can sustain in ideal situation but we have to take into account both water evaporation and the posibility of pond over flooding when it rains.
gurey:the canal system is a smarter,and even better as far as sanitation but takes much more infrastructure than average somali nomads can afford. that only shows you how me are lagging milleniums behind in this department.

[shiniile9]

Good idea,but Unfortunately lacking an investment.

[ToughGong]

This is what's needed all over.Only on a much bigger scale
Mashallah

[udun]

maashallah...

what would be even better is to combine this with micro dams and and an underground qanaat system like ancient persia and present day oman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qanat

There is more than enough water in northern somalia for its current population and for agriculture...

we just need to invest heavily in infrastructure

Gurey,

This really makes sense to me but we need geologic knowledge of how to identify the water table. The good news is between Togdheer to all the way Eyl, Nugaal, the Nugaal valley provides water tables that can be easily reached; however, building of the qanat requires skills.

Preparations

Alluvial Fan in Southern Iran. Initial step in qanat construction is identification of an appropriate water source. The search begins at the point where the alluvial fan meets the mountains or foothills; water is more abundant in the mountains because of orographic lifting and excavation in the alluvial fan is relatively easy. The muqannīs follow the track of the main water courses coming from the mountains or foothills to identify evidence of subsurface water such as deep-rooted vegetation or seasonal seeps. A trial well is then dug to determine the location of the water table and determine whether a sufficient flow is available to justify construction. If these prerequisites are met, then the route is laid out aboveground.[11][12]

Equipment must be assembled. The equipment is straightforward: containers (usually leather bags), ropes, reels to raise the container to the surface at the shaft head, hatchets and shovels for excavation, lights, spirit levels or plumb bobs and string. Depending upon the soil type, qanat liners (usually fired clay hoops) may also be required.[11][12]

Although the construction methods are simple, the construction of a qanat requires a detailed understanding of subterranean geology and a degree of engineering sophistication. The gradient of the qanat must be carefully controlled—too shallow a gradient yields no flow—too steep a gradient will result in excessive erosion, collapsing the qanat. And misreading the soil conditions leads to collapses which at best require extensive rework and, at worst, can be fatal for the crew.

[gurey25]

There is ground penetrating radar and siesmic mapping...

you can now literally see the structure and the water....

I am more interested in saving and storing rain water and channeling it into these qanat systems using dams and wadis or Toghs ...
especially saving those flashfloods that simply wash away and then evaporate in a few weeks.



Building it will be a bitch, but it will be low tech and labour intensive,
we have hundreds of thousands of young men that are sitting on the streets chewig qaad when they could be put to work..

If only we had a dictatorship, we could press gang them into working on this..



without this you would need to provide insentives, like pay, and house and feed them for the duration..
this will take months and maybe a years..

conscripting them ertirean style into work teams could mean a qanat system in less than 6 months..
instead of 6 years.

[RovingMadness]

Obviously, apart from a cultural transformation, the work ethics of our people also need to change. If forced labor can do the trick it is a convenient and simple short term solution while helping improve the environment

[gurey25]

Obviously, apart from a cultural transformation, the work ethics of our people also need to change. If forced labor can do the trick it is a convenient and simple short term solution while helping improve the environment

entire cultures can change..

The germans used to be known for bieng rowdy and having no work ethics, i.e bieng lazy.
They were also famous for having difficulty with order and discipline , one british author predicted in 1836 that Germans will never have factories becuase they are too stupid to work with machinery.



ill find you the source, walahi its funny..

the same thing was said about the japanese., and the koreans... for the koreans it was as recent as the 60's.


Look at them now..

[RovingMadness]

That's why we are hopeful despite that odds that need to be surmounted

[samadoon-waaxid]

Udun:water table data are avaialable for all of somalia's regions via NGo's
Gurey:western NGo are already applying that concept by paying locals to dig up their own wells,thus shallow well costs em a cheap 3000 as oppose to 9000 if they hired a professional water rig company.I remember seeing some ethnic pantus in the janaale district digging one well with their bear hands and gettin it done, will dig up for the photos later,is funny how somalis in the U.S are known or being hard workers as oppose to the lazy ones back home.skinnies have a superb adaption skills.