KITUI SAND DAMS

INTRODUCTIONQuality of life in the drylands is determined by the ability to adapt to the existingsituation. The most important of this is the shortage of water. There is an abundance ofwater in the short wet season. The long dry period is characterized by severe shortage ofwater. During this period water sources are few and far apart. Usually the sources of lastresort are found deep under the dry sandy stream/riverbeds. These reservoir points areformed where an impermeable barrier across streams results in natural sand dams. Wateris extracted from these reservoirs using scoop holes which maybe as deep as thirty feet or10 metres more.Water is the greatest limiting factor of development in the drylands. During the dryseason the households spent a disproportionably large amount of energy and time onwater chores, resulting in the neglect of more important activities. Without water thissituation will persist.Many communities have realized that water is their priority problem. It must beaddressed for these communities to achieve development. These communities are alsoaware that only their involvement in solutions will create the appropriate solutions totheir water problem.Indigenous knowledge stipulates that there is water in the sand. It is also known thatstreams without sand hold no water. By correlation therefore, sandy streams/rivers areimportant in solutions of water problems. Using this local knowledge of sources of watersupplemented by scientific knowledge in construction techniques it is possible to makebarriers which hold water in the sandy rivers. A cascade of barriers in a stream/river willform multiple sand dams increasing greatly the number of sources and amount of waterheld.Community involvement breeds ownership of the problem and the solutions thereof.Ownership of the problem leads to the participation in the solutions.To date communities in Kitui together with SASOL have constructed 500 sand damsserving more than 150,000 persons. The dams have been made using local materials withsupplementary commercial inputs.The following is a chronicle of how the people of Kitui have been working on the Kituisand dams programme.2