Conserve Water through Local Action

2008 Winning Student Initiating Project:  Adam Mohamed with the help of a community water committee

Name of Community:  Village of Sandu in the Northern Region of Ghana

Project Name:  Rain Water Harvesting to Recharge Ground Water

As a winner of the poster contest, Adam Mohamed was given the opportunity to develop a community water committee to assist him in identifying and designing a project to improve the community’s water supply. Over the last few months, NVOC has been working closely with Adam Mohamed through the Tuma Kavi Development Association to develop a Community Water Committee. Through the completion of two planning phases and a community mapping exercise, the committee has identified their most pressing need to be additional ground water during the dry season.  After much discussion of various options they have decided to implement rainwater harvesting as a method of increasing ground water and well recharge capacity. 

The implementation of a community water project will be achieved with the cooperation of NVOC, Tuma Kavi Development Association, a local contractor employing villagers and Sandu’s water committee.  Northern Ghana suffers from severe water shortages and depends solely on ground and rain water for water supply.  The wells of Sandu are being used beyond their capacity and therefore the recharge of ground water aquifers is essential in preventing existing wells from drying up. 

Rainwater harvesting from school rooves is a common practice in the region.  Rain water harvesting to recharge ground water tables is an ancient practice that has shown recent success in India and Southern Africa.  However this method is new to Ghana, therefore the monitoring aspect of this project will be essential in evaluating its success and ability to be replicated in the region.  

We are pleased to announce that this project has received Full Funding from the Change Happpens Foundation and is currently being implemented.