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Information
Sheet
Water
Audit and Resource Assessment
In association
with the Post-Earthquake Reconstruction Programme European Union-
Gujarat (PERPEUG), the Disaster Mitigation Institute implemented
a participatory Water Audit and Water Resource Assessment (WARA)
in, September 2002. The objective was to identify water needs
in 23 villages of Patan, Kutch and Surendranagar in terms of
consumption by families and the strength/capacity of existing
water sources in each of the districts. Through Sphere oriented
practices the water audit initiative concentrates on improving
and developing water structures for vulnerable peoples (As Mr.
Sean Lowrie, Training Manager, Sphere Team, Geneva, stated with
regard to the water audit “very few agencies are taking Sphere
to the community level and DMI is one of them…”). DMI's WARA
focuses on securing, sustainable short term and long-term rehabilitation
processes in earthquake and drought prone areas of Gujarat.
Since 1999 rural areas in Gujarat have experienced repeated
and constant drought. The regions of Patan, Kutch and Surendranagar
are particularly affected by drought as they are made up of
the poorest sectors of society and are the worst hit by the
drought phenomenon. As revealed in 'SEWA Fights Drought- A Documentation
on Drought 2000', these areas are “naturally arid to semiarid
environments in which depleted ground water resources and unpredictable
rainfall patterns contribute to a condition of chronic water
scarcity”. Moreover, rainwater caught in dams or manmade ponds
is simply enough to feed cattle and does not meet the needs
of drinking water sources for the people. On January 26, 2001
this regular state of water shortage was compounded with an
earthquake that hit 6.9 on the rector scale. Through the WAWRA,
vulnerable sectors of society and civil society can work together
to understand and manage water, thus lessoning the impact of
compounded disasters.
On Friday December 20, 2002 the final selection of six out of
23, of the most needy villages was finalized and the process
of construction and reconstruction of water structures under
the PERPEUG programme is set to begin. The process of selecting
these villages (Charanka, Aluvas of Patan district, Timba, Butwada,
Koprani villages of Surendranagar District and Vedhar and Jhalu
of Kutch District) included trainings, data collection, and
analyses. The WAWRA study examined the quality and quantity
of water; per capita consumption of water for households as
well as for irrigation, and water availability for agriculture
and animal husbandry related activities. The water audit card
specifically addressed questions with regard to resources. For
example villagers in all districts were asked if they were capable
of taking care of the water sources and if the water was sufficient
in the summer for their household use? With regard to the village
well, the beneficiaries were asked if they were capable of maintaining
the well; if the water from the well could be used for household
purposes and if they were able to attain five pots of water
per house during a disaster or the summer? The requirement of
reconstruction or new construction of water sources damaged
or destroyed by the earthquake or drought was also assessed.
Finally, villagers were also asked about their preferred water
source, and water use during different seasons.
In so doing, the findings reveal that in Patan district, Aluvas
villagers stressed the need for domestic (drinking) and irrigation
water structures, while in Charanka the villagers, wanted to
reconstruct the well due to damage created during the earthquake.
In both these cases, during the summer seasons, water sources
were poor in quality and quantity and unreliable. The people
of the Patan district also revealed that they receive only 4
hours of water a day from the Government stand post and 59 per
cent of the population maintained that they are unable to attain
5 pots of water from this source during a disaster or during
the summer season.
Similarly in Koprani (Surendranager) during the Gram Shaba (a
democratic meeting, including both men and women to discuss
issues concerning the village) villagers voiced their concern
for the repair of their well because it currently only serves
the needs of 15 to 20 percentage people (due to poor quantity
of water due to the damage of the well during the earthquake),
leaving the others to use private and expensive bore wells.
Within the other two villages in the Surendranager district
villagers requested two different types of water structures.
In Butwada due to a lack of storage capacity, and the existence
of a dry river, it was determined that an underground community
tank would be most suitable. In Timba, there exists 1 check
dam and 50 private hand pumps, which all have good quality of
water, however only some of the private hand pumps have sufficient
quantity. In examining the district as a whole the DMI field
teams discovered that these villagers only receive 2 hours of
running water from the stand post per day and only 10 per cent
of the people are capable of attaining 5 pots of water from
this source during a disaster or during the summer. The scarcity
of water available from the village pond during the summer in
this district is even worse; there is no sufficient household
water during the summer for the people of Surendranager.
In Vedhar (the Kutch district) there are no water facilities
for irrigation however the domestic water sources are good.
The DMI team found that 66 per cent of villagers from the Kutch
area are incapable of attaining 5 pots of water from the pond
during the summer or during a disaster. Moreover, their community
tank is not filled sufficiently by the Government during droughts.
When asked about the availability of water from the stand post
residents of the Kutch area maintained that they receive only
4 hours of running water from limited water taps per day, thus
resulting in 73 per cent of the population without sufficient
water during the summer and in times of disasters. DMI, with
the help of the PERPEUG programme therefore, hopes to construct
storage and rainwater harvesting systems to improve domestic
and irrigation water facilities.
As per observations there is an urgent short-term need to develop
drinking, domestic and agricultural sources/structures of water.
During the week of December 23- December 28, 2002 DMI will begin
fulfilling its short-term goals by constructing two well in
the Charanka village and reconstructing the Koprani well. In
order to fulfill long-term rehabilitation goals it is imperative
to work together with the community, non-governmental organizations,
and government bodies. In so doing capacity building through
water education (such as the “Twenty Second Local Cycle in Water
Audit and Resource Assessment”) with the community and the villagers
themselves is being conducted. DMI hopes to continue the implementation
of water structures by receiving further demands from the grass-roots
level. |
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