A Discussion Regarding
Water Resources: One of
Life’s/Mankind’s Basic,
Essential and MultiDimensional Assets
William B. Moeller
Some Preliminary Ideas • While this conversation will be with respect
to activity relating to water resources, I feel
I should first mention a few broader basic
ideas which may be seen as a frame
within which we may then converse more
effectively
First Order Challenges
• Developed-world engineers are generally only
educated by and for the Developed World
• Local (foreign) problem conditions for them:
– Lack, or weakness of “normal” societal infrastructure,
i.e. not like in U.S.A
– Language
– Leadership structures
– Nationally insufficient financial resources
– Untrained (?) human resources
– Limited local material resources
Second Order Challenges
• Commonly, there are only a few (no), locally
appropriate engineering professionals available
• Local conditions of instability and uncertainty
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Social
Political
Economic
Technologic
• Lack of data
• Dependence upon local labor, construction
practices and materials
• Defining functional sustainability
• Finding ways to assess for functional
sustainability
Outline of Presentation
• A number of cases will be gone through
• A history of the formation of the Initiative
for Sustainable Infrastructure in
Developing Regions (ISI) will be sketched
• Organizational/Institutional entities with
which I (and ISI) have been, am/(are), or
seek to become engaged will be
introduced
• Discussion on points of interest is invited
My View of “Water Resources”
• One part of the band of inter-related,
essential life-system resources
• My life’s-work area of focus
• Open to definition by each group that
would address it.
• Definition is also varied by inputs of time,
location and cultural parameters
Regarding Cases Being Presented
• Discussion is largely based upon
personally experienced situations
• Cases demonstrate multi-dimensional
nature of conditions encountered
• Cases came to me by invitation, and not
by my determination of a need for
attention which I then executed
Case 1: New (Relocated) Community
Near Panzos, Guatemala
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Post “Mitch” CRS effort
Design is for perhaps 70 families
Stream water supply is logical option
Hope is to tie into existing gravity system in use
by another, lower community
• Source has (pollution) problems
• Infrastructure needs:
– access road for chlorination supplies
– Improved water intake system
Partial View of Town Site Showing
Upland Source Area
The Edge of Town
Chlorination Site and Reservoir
Community Dam, Reservoir and
Acquaduct
Reservoir Pool
New (Relocated) Communities
Near Ixcan, Guatemala
• Relocating to higher ground after Mitch
flooding destroyed original communities
• Seven sites chosen without any evident
regard to water and sanitation factors
• To have hand dug community wells
• Individual family privy waste disposal
• Site topography very critical
Town site One (high land)
Town Site Two (low land):
Proposed Well Site
Another View, Town Site Two Well
Site
El Aguila, Honduras Water Project
• First Water Partners International (now
Water.org.) project
• Participation by individuals required to be
eligible for a service connection
• Source: a spring on the highest peak in region
• About 25 miles of transmission line installed
• 600 people in biggest of seven communities
served
• Total of 250(+-) families served
System Spring, Near Mountain Top
Project Area Geography
A Local-Area Storage Reservoir
(Being Constructed)
Local Community Customer
Residence
New, Pour-flush Privy
Local Community Planning Meeting
Leader Presentation at Meeting
Choluteca, Honduras
• Catholic Relief Services asked to aid
execution of project (Not the Planning)
• A new community to replace flood loss
area in town, about 2.5 mi from town
• A ‘wrong political group’ area was flooded
• Lava flow area being used
• Town giving no water or wastewater
connections
‘Do-Gooder’ Donation: Privy for a
Rural Family (In Guatemala)
• A not uncommon sort of event
• Evidently ‘foreign’ wisdom and assets
utilized in all regards
• During our visit, owner laughed about and
dismissed the gift he got
- The Homestead -
-- The (Dry) Composting Privy on
High (3 Steps Up) --
Inside Finishing Touches
(untouched for over a year)
Water Resources Planning for
Queretaro, Mexico, The Rio
Extoraz
WHERE:
• Central Mexico
• Upland east of Continental Divide
SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY:
• Poor state (had highest % migrants in U.S.)
• Queretaro City, about 590,000 people (2004)
More Basics
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY:
• 60% high plains (W) 40% Sierras (E)
CLIMATE:
• Plains, 20 to 60 cm Precip/yr.
• Sierras, up to 200+cm Precip/yr.
• One Wet & one Dry season per year
• Temperatures go warm to hot over year
CURRENT WATER RESOURCES:
• Rapidly depleting, local aquifers under plains
• Rio Extoraz watershed system
And Further
• Dam and reservoir site are within Sierra Gorda
Biological Reserve
Project Statistics
• Project life:
50 years
• Design daily pumping rate:
2.5 m3/sec
• Pipeline length:
138 km.
• Untracked lands along pipeline: 48 km
• Static lift on pipeline:
~ 1300 m
Further Relevant Issues
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Population growth is uncertain, but rapid
High sediment load (>660,000yd/yr, net)
Permanent stratification of reservoir likely
Located in cinnabar (mercury) mining area
End-of-life costs for dam and silted pool
Downstream effects on river system
Ecological impact on Preserve’s resources
Thoughts Outside the Box
• Fix the distribution system
• Use pricing to control consumption
• Transfer groundwater from irrigation to potable
use by purchase
• Treat waste flows, develop non-potable uses for
all such flows
• Restore degraded watershed vegetation
• Increase infiltration with water spreading
• Explore high sierra tributary diversions to offchannel storage reservoir
A Sad Haitian Tale
• Do-Gooders donated wells and hand
pumps in a locale and everyone felt good
• A Notre Dame faculty member saw trouble
and so trained a fellow to repair pumps
• returning some time later he found broken
pumps, dirty water being used, again
• The fellow was unemployed
• “We’re waiting for them to come back and
give us new pumps for free.”!!!
The Montes de Oro Coffee
Cooperative Program
• An MOU has been created between MdO
and ISI
• We and they are working with the
Mesoamerican Development Institute to
get projects funded and implemented
relating to new solar drying and Integrated
Open Canopy technology development
Initiative for Sustainable
Infrastructure in Developing
Regions (ISI)
• Refer to brochure for general information
• Academic Program: MS Certificate “Sustainable
Infrastructure for Developing Nations”
• Current activity: developing a “Networked
Engineering Research Center (NERC)” which
involves:
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UMASS Lowell
UMASS Amherst
University of Nicaragua (URACCAN)
The Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica
The Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras
More re: NERC Project
• Areas of activity:
– Agro-industrial processing, focusing on
three sectors: coffee, essential oils and
the biofuels industries
– Sustainable, biodiversity-friendly
systems for growing the raw materials
– pursuing funding for projects
– Integrated Open Canopy reforestation
ISI Connections
• NERC project partners:
– Mesoamerican Development Institute
– 1420 Foundation
• Other ISI relationships:
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Catholic Relief Services
Ecumenical Program for International Cooperation (EPIC)
Engineers Without Borders
Global Village Engineers
Individuals (with international program skills/experience)
Spring 2011 Graduate Class
Water for People
Water.org.
Comments and Questions, Please
Thank you