Here is a video taken by Fr Paul Gathu (PP, Ishiara Parish) of the locals collecting drinking water from the Sand dam at Kamavaru. This dam was built by the locals in early 2020, using the materials and technical support paid for by the Parish Partnership with St Joseph & Benildus & St Mary’s , Waterford. The water rising through the pump has been cleaned by going through the sand in the bottom of the dam. You can see the high water mark that the water reached when overflowing the top of the dam during last rainy season. Usually the rains come in Nov/Dec and in April/May., but the water very quickly disappears down the river. This water has been retained for a further 2 months already. You can see downstream what the river bed would normally look like. They can also now bring their livestock (goats and cattle) to the dam for water. You can also see how the dam is slowing regenerating the shrubs & trees around the site, which in turn reduces evaporation from the surface.

Kamavaru sand dam Construction report

Activity:Kamavaru sand dam construction

Fund source: Waterford

Project title: Ishiara parish Waterford partnership

Introduction

Kamavaru sand dam is located in Kamavaru village, Muthantara sub location in Kamarandi location of Mbeere North Sub County of Embu County. The sand dam site is within the semi-arid parts of Embu county where residents are classified as marginal mixed farmers who are mainly dependent on rain fed agriculture and minimal livestock keeping. The residents of Kamavaru village for a very long time have been  facing a challenge of inadequate water for both livestock and domestics chores especially during the dry spells of the year mainly July, August, September and October. This has been making the residents as well as the livestock travel for a long distance searching for water thus spending most of their available time in this noble activity. It is highly hoped that with the sand dam available water will be readily available to the residents at shorter distances thus giving them an opportunity to engage in other productive activities.

Anticipated benefits of the constructed Kamavaru sand dam are:-

  1. Increased and reliable access source of water for the local community for their domestic chores as well as their livestock.
  2. Strengthened resilience by the local community as more time will be created for other productive work which may be directly linked to the sand dam such as small irrigation for vegetable production, use of the water for bricks making that can later be sold.
  3. Environmental benefits that will be derived from the rehabilitation of kamavaru seasonal river and the adjacent land, the sand dam will hold a lot of sand which is the water blanket thus promoting regeneration of the river bank.

The above pictures illustrate community livestock searching for water as the Sand Dam construction progresses

Sand dam construction progress

The sand dam construction took exactly 11 weeks as it was anticipated during the design development stage. The process involved various parties and stake holders as a strategy to ensure the sustainability of the project. The stake holders involved were:-

  • St. Joseph, St. Benildus & St. Mary’s Parish Waterford who were the financier of the project
  • Trocaire through Paul and later Ethne who were the link and support to the partnership.
  • OSA-Ishiara parish project office that was the grant holder thus playing a key role in community mobilization, financial resources management and contract management as well as monitoring the progress.
  • Local administration (chiefs and assistant chiefs)

Locally all the community powers and security are vested on the local administration thus playing a very critical role in ensuring the entire sand dam construction process was well managed by providing appropriate security to the community members involved in the dam construction, materials place at the site by the contractor and ensuring that there were no conflicts during the entire period5

  • The local community

The local community was the key in the process as they provided the labor that was required in the construction process, they also provided the locally available materials to the site while at the same time showing interest in the management and sustainability of the dam. They are the beneficiaries of the project.

  • Contractor

The contractor comprised of the team from SASOL that provided the technical work in the whole process while providing all the materials as it had been indicated in the bill of quantities. During the 11 weeks they deployed their 3 engineers to the sites who were basically present all the days and another team of technical people who kept on supervising the work on weekly basis. Project Officer worked with the SASOL team on behalf of OSA Ishiara Parish Project Office

Cross cutting issues

  1. Gender inclusivity: this was ensured form day one of the work to the last day of the work. Among the community members who provided the locally available materials and the labor both men and women, adult and youths were all involved. To ensure appropriate involvement of all the community groups division of labor was done on weekly basis depending on the work for the week and capability of every single community group for example during the material assembling period women were requested to assemble the sand while men assembled the hardcore, during the excavation period mainly the youths and the men were allocated these work while women provided water for construction during the construction phase.
  2. Environmental protection: During the construction period it was ensured that little damage was caused to the environment by the construction work and so to begin with an environmental impact assessment was carried out and gave an overview of possible negative effects to the environment and still provided a mitigation plan. During the construction all the materials assembled were extracted from the surrounding environment within acceptance limits so as to prevent environmental degradation. Acceptable technology was employed all through where also local knowledge was incorporated during the construction period.
  3. Sustainability: To ensure the sustainability of he the project the community members were engage at all stages of the project implementation which included Involvement during the environmental impact assessment, during sensitization meetings, planning meetings and actual implementation. Additionally, a three day training for the local community on operation and maintenance of the sand dam has been scheduled for as a strategy to ensure that appropriate care shall be taken. After the training the community shall also elect a committee that shall be in charge of the operation and maintenance for effectiveness.

The above pictures show the community participants, both men and women, who were involved in the construction of the Sand Dam

The above pictures were taken after the Sand Dam construction was completed before the rainfall.

 The concrete wall constructed across has trapped a lot of water and hold back the sand and this will create additional sub surface water bank for harvesting water. Compared to the other method of water harvesting techniques, sand dams are more environmentally friendly as they control erosion and manage silt deposition within. Its water is clean and of good quality for consumption due to the filtering effects of the sand. Sand dams increase moisture infiltration within the soil profile and into the ground water providing both soil and water conservation benefits. The site will also witness quick regeneration of the indigenous trees along the riverbanks therefore attracting other biological resources.

Challenges

The technology is labour and physical capital intensive and most of the local community cannot implement without external aid. Sand dam construction requires community involvement and full participation

Recommendation

More sand dams are required to supplement local water supplies in the face of the growing water insecurity because they can recharge after every rainfall, they are also capable of recharging even with the unreliable rainfall.

Conclusion

Sand dam technology that artificially enhances traditional water harvesting knowledge if well sited can bank a lot of clean for domestic and livestock thereby alleviating water shortages during the dry the period.

Our Heart felt thanks to you Waterford Parish (St. Joseph, St. Benildus and St. Mary)

Report Compiled by: Morris Njeru  

Verified by:   Catherine Mururi.

Approved by : Fr. Patrick Owino Barasa 

The above pictures were taken after the rainfall.