Roads and water are generally seen as enemies, with water responsible for most of the damage to roads, and roads being a major cause of problems such as erosion, waterlogging, flooding, and dust storms. This tension, however, can be reversed.…
Category: Optimising Road Development for Groundwater Recharge and Retention
Optimizing Road Development for Groundwater Recharge and Retention
Can road design boost water security in rural regions?
re-posted from GRIPP Roads for Water is integrating road construction and small water infrastructure to harvest rainwater from small catchments for productive use, while reducing road damage and simplifying road maintenance. Improving road drainage design is reducing soil erosion and increasing…
Read More Can road design boost water security in rural regions?
Vote for Roads for Water!
Following an UPGro Catalyst Grant, over the last three years much work has gone into making use of roads for water management. Roads have in many areas an enormous impact on hydrology. Now often negative with roads causing erosion and…
Groundwater – the earth’s renewable wealth
By Sean Furey, Skat Foundation/RWSN/UPGro Where does wealth come from? At its most basic, it is the difference between how much you invest in a product or service and how much you get from selling it. If the difference is…
On the road to resilience in Ethiopia
by Barry Hague, NERC (re-blogged from NERC Planet Earth) It's time to rethink roads. In the vital fields of flood prevention and water supply, they offer incredible potential to enhance and enrich the lives of some of the world's poorest…
African aquifers can protect against climate change
Floods and droughts, feasts and famines: the challenge of living with an African climate has always been its variability, from the lush rainforests of the Congo to the extreme dry of the Sahara and Namib deserts. In north western Europe,…
Read More African aquifers can protect against climate change
Collecting Water With Roads – ground-breaking research wins Global Environment Award
Water is short in many places but roads are everywhere – and when it rains it is often along these roads that most water runs, as roads unknowingly either serve as dike or a drain. By harvesting the water with…
Read More Collecting Water With Roads – ground-breaking research wins Global Environment Award
Roads for Water – new research puts Ethiopian farmers in the driving seat
Media Release World Water Day is an opportunity to reflect on the immense challenge that faces millions of people every day. Much of Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is notably off-track from the Millennium Development Goals[i], which come to an end…
Read More Roads for Water – new research puts Ethiopian farmers in the driving seat
How to… design roads for water harvesting and groundwater recharge
Roads can devastate a landscape - scarring it, creating barriers for wildlife and accelerating stormwater so that valuable farmland, habitats and homes get washed away or polluted. What if didn't have to be that way? What if roads would work…
Read More How to… design roads for water harvesting and groundwater recharge
Roads for Water: Effecting Change in Tigray, Ethiopia
from the WaterChannel: Question: How can dusty roads provide water? Answer: By harvesting and storing rainwater when it falls on them. A 30 mm rainfall over a 1-kilometre stretch of road can produce up to 100,000 litres of water. This number…
Read More Roads for Water: Effecting Change in Tigray, Ethiopia
UPGro - African Groundwater 2020 