Traditional Water Technologies (project closed)

Project closed: December 2005

Water management forms the most critical process in dry areas, as it impacts livelihood, food security, land conservation, and productivity. Most of the dry areas of the world, defined as arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid regions, fall in the developing world. But these communities often do not possess the technical know-how, financial capacity, or the social structure to undertake modern water management approaches. On the positive side, communities in dry areas have learned to cope with water shortages throughout the centuries. Such traditional water management approaches are the primary focus of this project.

The objectives of the Traditional Water Management Technology project are to:

• Highlight the importance of traditional water management systems through focused research and field activities.
• Evaluate the relationship between local communities and traditional water management systems, including evolution of these systems in contemporary societies.
• Build the capacity of local researchers to undertake community-oriented field research.
• Perform focused research on means and ways for improving traditional water management systems according to evolving socio-economic patterns, particularly highlighting South-South collaboration.
• Raise public awareness on key issues pertaining to utilization of traditional water management technologies.