What is drainage water management? Where is it most suitable? How do I manage it and what is the outcome? This short publication addresses those questions important for practitioners.
FRANKENBERGER, J. KLADIVKO, E. SANDS, G. JAYNES, D. FAUSEY, N. HELMERS, M. COOKE, R. STROCK, J. NELSON, K. BROWN, L. (2006): Drainage Water Management for the Midwest. Questions and Answers About Drainage Water Management for the Midwest. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue Agriculture URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This paper describes how check dams help to control sedimentation.
METROPOLITAN COUNCIL (n.y): Sediment Control. Check Dams. St. Paul: Metropolitan Council URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
A short article about soil amendments and some tips how some different amendments can be used and its benefits.
WEST COAST SEEDS (2011): Soil Amendments and How to Use Them. Ladner: West Coast Seeds URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This document presents the technical aspects of a fog harvesting project, which started in 1990 in El Tofo, Chile.
UNEP (1997): Chapter 5.2 Fog harvesting in Chile. In: UNEP (1998): Source Book of Alternative Technologies for Freshwater Augmentation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Nairobi: . URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This paper analyses why a certain reforestation project was successful in some villages in Malawi, while not in others.
BRATEN, R.H. (n.y): Collective Action Reforestation. A Case Study from Malawi. Oslo: University of Oslo URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
Fertilisers and soil amendments are a wide array of materials added to soils to improve plant growth. They can be organic, such as bone meal, or inorganic, such as 10-10-10 fertiliser. Some must be purchased, while others are free for the taking from your landscape. Many are dual purpose—they serve as both fertilisers and soil amendments.
TRAUNFELD, J. NIBALI, E. (2009): Soil Amendments and Fertilizers. Fertilizing Guidelines Included by Plant Group. ELLICOT CITY: Home and Garden Information Center URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This guide on integrated plant nutrient management, dealing with various aspects of plant nutrition, is an attempt to provide support to the ongoing efforts directed at enhanced and sustainable agricultural production. It seeks to bridge the scientific knowledge gap, and it presents updated information on plant nutrition with emphasis on INM. In helping stakeholders to improve their ability to identify and resolve constraints relating to plant nutrition – be they of a technical, economic, social or policy nature – and to demonstrate on the field practical ways of increasing production through efficient plant nutrition, the guide should assist in achieving the goal of food security.
ROY, R.N. FINCK, A. BLAIR, G.J. TANDON, H.L.S. (2006): Plant Nutrition for Food Security: A Guide for Integrated Nutrient Management. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
A well-illustrated paper about cover crops which answers all important questions.
MUTCH, D.R. MARTIN, T.E. (n.y): Cover Crops. Washington, D.C.: Sustainable Agriculture Publications – USDA URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
Targeted reforestation is likely to be a more cost-effective strategy to manage salinity rather than broad scale land use change.
HEANEY, A. ; BEARE, S. ; BELL, R. (2000): Targeting Reforestation for Salinity Management. In: Australian Commodities: Volume 7 , 511-518. URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
The irrigated area of Pakistan mostly falls in the arid to semi-arid climatic region. Potential evapotranspiration is considerably higher, compared to rainfall received and hence, there is need to conserve soil moisture for better crop production/tree plantation. The broad objective of the study was to evaluate the efficiency of different mulching materials on moisture conservation, soil properties and plant growth. The tested options were: no mulching; placement of rice straw; placement of polythene sheet; mechanical loosening of soil.
CHAUDHRY, M.R. ; MALIK, A.A. ; SIDHU, M. (2004): Mulching Impact on Moisture Conservation - Soil Properties and Plant Growth. In: Pakistan Journal of Water Resources: Volume 8 URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
Conservation agriculture is presented in this handbook of the World Food and Agriculture Organisation FAO and aims to produce high crop yields while reducing production costs, maintaining the soil fertility and conserving water. It is a way to achieve sustainable agriculture and improve livelihoods. Chapter 5 concentrates on soil cover.
FAO (2005): Conservation Agriculture - Chapter 5: Soil Cover. Rome: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
Communities can protect water resources by instituting minimum requirements for organic matter in soil. Compost, much of which is generated locally, when incorporated into soil improves water holding capacity and soil quality. By incorporating compost into soil for establishment of lawns and landscape plantings, water used for irrigation is conserved and the potential for groundwater contamination is reduced. Read more about it in this paper.
AGRESOURCE (2012): Protecting Local Water Resources by Amending Soil with Compost. Amesbury: Agresource Inc URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This is a short manual about mulch. It explains the benefits of proper mulching, types of mulch and the problems if they are used improperly.
ISA (2005): Proper Mulching Techniques. Champaign: International Society of Arboriculture URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This technical document describes the formation and control of gullies. The severity of gully development depends on a number of factors including soil type, vegetation, rainfall, concentrated flow, and human disturbances. Gullies can erode hillslopes and fill stream channels with sediment. Unchecked, they erode and deliver sediment through a variety of processes that cause loss in soil productivity, channel entrenchment, and headward expansion into the landscape. To best select a design alternative, the desired results of the landowner must be understood along with the character of the gully and its potential impacts.
USACE (2007): Gullies and their Control. New Concord: US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
Small-scale water providers continue to supply water to many parts of Metro Manila, the Philippines. The study found that a high proportion of the poor rely on water services supplied by small-scale water providers, but that these households pay a higher unit rate for the water than their more affluent neighbours. The study yields a number of recommendations, including rationalizing the price of water for poor customers, improving service efficiencies to reduce the costs of supplying water, and developing collaborative relationships among the government regulator, utility, and small-scale water providers.
WSP (2004): The Experience of Small-Scale Water Providers in Serving the Poor in Metro Manila. Washington, D.C.: The Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank Group URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This report is the concluding document of the study, Agricultural Drainage: Toward an Interdisciplinary and Integrated Approach, under the Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program-Environment/Water Resources Management Window. The study spanned more than two years of literature reviews, field investigations, and analysis. Work included case studies in six countries representing a cross-section of drainage situations in different climatic zones.
SAFWAT, A.D. HOEVENAARS, J. MOLLINGA, P.P. SCHEUMANN, W. SLOOTWEG, R. STEENBERGEN, F. van (2004): Reclaiming Drainage. Toward an Integrated Approach. Washington D.C.: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
The purpose of this guidebook is to serve as guidance for those interested in developing a land-use change and forestry project under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The guidebook has been created by Winrock International, in collaboration with the International Tropical Timber Organization.
ITTO (2006): Guidebook: For the Formulation of Afforestation and Reforestation Projects under the Clean Development Mechanism. Yokohama: International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
A project report showing the potential of controlled drainage in around the world with a focus chapter on the Egypt and India. The paper includes influencing factors such as social or water risks as well as crop-related hazards.
ABBOT, C.L., LAWRENCE, P., PEARCE, G.R. and ABDEL-GAWAD, S. (2002): Review of the Potential for Controlled Drainage Around the World. (KAR Project R7133). Oxon: HR Wallingford and Department for International Development (DFID) URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
Festac Town, Lagos, Nigeria is a typical community that is presently not being serviced by water utilities. Households therefore seek other alternative sources including water vending. This paper examined the role of water vending in household water supply delivery in this community. It identified the sources of water supply by the vendors, assessed their level of patronage among households and identified the problems associated with their operations. The paper concludes that the most sustainable strategy would be to resuscitate the moribund piped water supply system earlier initiated by the Water Supply Agency (WSA).
OLAJUYJUGBE, A.E. ; ROTOWA, A.E. ; ADEWUMI, I.J. (2012): Water Vending in Nigeria. A Case Study of Festac Town, Lagos, Nigeria. In: Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences: Volume 3 , 1. URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]
This short chapter describes purpose, construction and maintenance of check dams and includes some technical drawings.
HAWKES BAY (2009): Erosion and Sediment Control. Check Dams. Napier: Hawkes’s Bay Regional Council URL [Accessed: 09.07.2019]