From doing things right to doing the right thing the way forward!

Siti (Shinile) Zone Report

The Somali Regional State is on the process of Developing Good Practices Guideline for Water Development with a technical support from Tuft University funded by US AID and with the involvement of different implementers in the region . A team composed from Sorpari, BOFED, Regional Parliament and OXFAM made a research based on agreed questionnaires in three weredas of Siti Zone. The weredas are Shinile, Aysha and Dembel. Report by: Azaria Berhe

November 2012

Siti (Shinile) technical working group report

November 2012 by Azaria Berhe

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY----------------------------------------------------------------------------3 BACKGROUND ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5 CHALLENGES AND SUBSEQUENT IMPACTS----------------------------------------------8 Wereda------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------8 Kebeles in the three weredas---------------------------------------------------------10 RESPONSES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------20 Households ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------20 Community-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------21 Government----------------------------------------------------------------------------------21 Non Governmental Organizations---------------------------------------------------22 GAPS----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------24 OPPORTUNITIES/ POTENTIAL ----------------------------------------------------------------27 CONCLUSION ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------32 RECOMMENDATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------33

Siti (Shinile) technical working group report

November 2012 by Azaria Berhe

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Somali Regional State Government requested all stakeholders to come together and join hands to develop Good Practices Guideline for Water Development in the region. Considering water as precious input for the pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in the region and considering recent climate change issues, it is a timely appeal. Three technical working groups in areas of water, agriculture and pasture had been working for months to study the Somali region water potential and gaps to help the process of the development of the guideline. Literature review was the first step to identify the efforts already made and to direct this research in areas where there are gaps. After developing questionnaires based on the gaps identified in the literature review, three working groups had travelled to three different zones that are meant to represent the region well. This report is the outcome of the field visit made in Shinile zone in three weredas i.e. Shinile, Aysha and Dembel. Shinile zone has underground water potential that is being tapped either through the construction of hand dug wells, shallow wells and deep wells (boreholes). There are also attempts to harvest rain water with limited success that needs to be harnessed with environmental impacts especially with relation to malaria. There are also natural springs and hot water springs that are not yet properly harvested. Scheme break down due to poor operation and maintenance, recurrent drought, uneasy access to fuel, receding ground water, uncoordinated efforts and other factors are affecting the functionality of the systems. Migration from mainly subkebeles and partly from kebeles toward a single system leads to over pumping that negatively affects the aquifer. Due to cyclical droughts happening over the past years, loss of livelihood and livestock are bitter facts affecting the day o day lives of people negatively. This leads pastoralists to try other ways of livelihood. Some start practicing rain fed agriculture with minimum support and success where as other turn to charcoal and fire wood selling. Decades of huge investments either from the government and NGOs to construct water infrastructures do not yet meet the demands of the community in the study areas in particular and Shinile zone in general. This leads to the need for new thinking, coordinated approach and innovative technologies to stop repeating the same structures knowing that they failed in other areas. Lack of coordinated effort, lack of documented underground potential supported by ground water study and mapping, poor operation and maintenance (management) of existing schemes that have direct link with skill and capacity gap at different hierarchy from WaSHCO to Regional Water Bureau, lack of standardized designs and strategies are the gaps identified during the research.

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There are also promising potentials which the zone is endowed with. The regional government commitment to develop Good Practices Guideline for Water Development in the region is a big step toward changing the current trends and pitfalls. The introduction of solar technology, high investment piped system from areas of good water potential to areas of low water potential, expansion of electric grid to motorized schemes, accumulated knowledge of the area by stakeholders both in terms of water potential and risks, willingness of the wereda officials to bring about change, donors reluctance to support emergency responses, willingness of community to contribute to water projects adds another dimension towards sustainable development of water systems. This research uses the different questionnaires developed by Tuft University and ratified by all stakeholders of the region through consultative meetings.

Siti (Shinile) technical working group report

November 2012 by Azaria Berhe

BACKGROUND Siti (Shinile) zone is one of the nine zones in the Somali National Regional state. It has a total population of 457,000 out of which 392,000 live in rural areas. 90% of its residents are pastoralists with few agro-pastoralists and urban dwellers sharing the 10%. The zone is crossed into two by an all weather road and a rail way from Dire Dawa to Djibouti. Road situation in Shinile zone is difficult due to the type of roads and the mountainous terrain and valleys that makes accessibility difficult. Shinile has a climate of arid and semi arid land (ASAL). When working in the ASALs, it is vital to understand the difference between drought and aridity. Drought causes temporary water shortages, while aridity is a state of chronic water deficit. Most of the Shinile zone has a good potential for ground water due to its underground formation. There are many BHs and hand dug wells in Shinile zone. Surface water development is found to be ineffective due to mainly the soil type. The soil is mostly sandy which allows water to percolate into the ground. The intense sun is also responsible for the evaporation of the water stored in the surface sources. Some areas in shinile zone have basement rocks very close to the surface which makes underground water development a nightmare. The mountainous terrain also challenged underground water study made with geophysical instruments. The terrain is mostly plain surrounded by a mountain and volcanic effects can be easily seen in many places. The fractures on the rock underneath the surface allow local recharge of the underground water. When rains disappear for sometime some of the boreholes reduce their yields may be pertinent to this reason. The main sources of water in Shinile zone are Boreholes. Shinile zone is only second in the number of Boreholes available in Somali Region only next to Jijiga zone. There are shallow and deep Boreholes in Shinile zone depending on the location drilled. The yield of the Boreholes is usually good that could supply water for both human and a percentage of animal population. The problem with the boreholes in some localities is the salinity of the water. Due to this reason some boreholes become totally unusable by the human population. Still animals benefit from the saline water where the salinity is within the acceptable limits of the animals. Failures of boreholes due to breakage of generators and pumps are the main causes of water shortage in the zone. Non availability of standby generators is also responsible for the failure of most of the generators. Small reservoir capacity also takes its share in creating water shortage in the zone and creating over pumping that damages the pumps and generators. Fuel shortage, cost and transportation is also one of the main reasons for boreholes poor performance during dry season when they are needed most. There are a number of dry river beds in shinile zone wide and narrow, deep and shallow. This dry river beds are sources of huge amounts of fresh water for the pastoralists in Shinile zone . It is not uncommon to see a considerable number of

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animals in the dry river beds. Pastoaralists dig a well inside the river bed and draws fresh water to drink their animals. When rainfall is in short the pastoralist are obliged to dig very deep to draw the water. This is a very tedious and dangerous work because there are risks of collapse of the sand walls. There are also areas endowed with natural springs that serve as water sources for the human and livestock population. These areas attract a lot of animals either from within and out of the zone. Some of the areas are Durdur in Aysha, Arabi in Dembel, Semecab in Dembel and Shebele in Dembel. In Arabi the spring water is hot water where humans use it also for medicine. Also a lot of animals congregate in that area in search of salty water. There are a lot of Hand dug wells that are constructed near dry river beds or within dry river beds either fitted with hand pump or open fitted with pulley where people draw the water by using ropes. Due to poor construction procedures followed in developing hand dug wells most of the hand dug wells are not benefiting the community during drought seasons. Also due to breakage of the hand pump and inaccessibility in case of hand pump failures, communities could not use the water available underneath. Hence they are forced to travel to a far place and share other communities sources which are one responsible cause for shortage of water during drought season. There are also surface water developments in the wereda either to supplement the shortage of water from Hand dug wells and Boreholes or as main water sources in areas where hand dug wells have never been tried and where boreholes are not drilled. The main and efficient surface water developments are birkads. Birkads are made of stone masonry plastered to create a water proof surface. Covered birkads are made to reduce the evaporation due to the intense sun and hence to help preserve the water for very dry season. The poor workmanship associated with the construction of birkads left some of the birkads unused. Ponds are also another water source types available in the zone. Some of them are found on the way between Dire Dawa and Djibouti where the road authority constructed for the community out of pity. But most or all of the ponds constructed without prior study on the soil types and the environment effect it would have especially in harbouring malaria. Also catchment identification is poor which contributed to the siltation of the ponds within a very short period of time. Due to this and the above mentioned reasons contribution for the ponds for the overall water availability in the zone is almost nil. The other water source for the community in Shinile zone is migration. During severe water shortage caused by aridity and rain shortage, members of the communities and their animals are forced to travel long distances to other weredas within the zone or outside the zone in search of water. Considering the water potential most of the main kebeles have better access to domestic water needs and part of their animal water needs. But most of the sub-

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kebeles still have to rely on surface sources that are not reliable in terms of quantity and quality. Due to the cyclical nature of the drought most of the pastoralists lost huge number of animals mainly due to long distance migration in search of water. During wet seasons most of the boreholes could supply water to most of the animals around the water sources. Those far from the water sources rely heavily on the dry river beds to water their animals. During normal dry season the boreholes still could accommodate a number of animals but this time movement of animals to the available water sources specially boreholes creates stresses on the boreholes. But those who rely on the dry river beds have to dig deep in the sand in order to water their animals. But during drought season the balance between the water and pasture is distorted that unusual and unplanned movements with lots of animals to the boreholes and the available pasture create stress on the environment which would be a cause for livestock deaths. Pasture is also a problem in the zone which forces pastoralists to move with their animals to a different location which was part of their routine activity during normal dry seasons. But there are also abnormal migrations to a very far place only to compete the scarce pasture which sometimes lead to conflicts. Small scale agriculture is becoming a supplementary livelihood for few pastoralists to supplement their income due to lose of livestock to recurrent drought. The agriculture their practice is rain fed and there exists crop failures due to rain failures which affects their income. There is only one kebele where irrigation is practiced with water from springs. The community practiced irrigation for a very long time and their major cultivation is fruits and vegetables. Also they cultivate maize that is the main food source for the Somali people. Recently the government is drilling and planning to drill many boreholes in few kebeles with the aim of introducing irrigation to sedentarize moving pastoralists from different locations to practice irrigation and change their lives.

Siti (Shinile) technical working group report

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CHALLENGES AND SUBSEQUENT IMPACTS Wereda The shinile, Aysha and Dembel wereda water coverage according to officials roughly is 64% in 2011 and 75% and 68.8% respectively in 2012. Further discussions reviled that the coverage is calculated mainly considering human domestic consumption and there is no proper study or research carried out to affirm the coverage. From the coverage it is easily seen that human consumption for domestic purpose is given priorities in Shinile wereda that animal and agricultural needs. For example in Dembel wereda the coverage is expressed as 68.8% for domestic, 21% for animal use and 0% for crop production. Due to this reason pastoralists in the three weredas are affected with water shortage mainly to their livestock population but the domestic use is also affected due to shortage. The water resource of the three weredas to agricultural activities is too limited and could be considered non-existent except to some pocket areas. Most of the pastoralists in all the three weredas pay 50 cents for water consumption per jerican which is equal to 25 birr per m3 of water. This obviously is too expensive for pastoralists to pay. Hence poor households prefer to use open and unprotected sources despite its negative health impact. Due to considerably high water cost most pastoralists could not afford to water their livestock at motorized schemes even if water could be available. Hence they prefer to move with their animals until the drought comes. During drought times pastoralists need to congregate around motorized schemes only to pay a lot of money to save their animals. In order to cover the cost they have to sale some of their animals as a sacrifice for the rest. At the end pastoralists will be left with dwindled number of livestock population either selling of animals or due to livestock death. Others prefer to take their animals to a far place to find more sustainable water sources and which cost them zero or small cost. The intense hot weather together with limited pasture would then be the fate of the moving animals. Due to this animal body weight will be lost and in extreme cases loss of animal would result. Those living in the sub-kebeles are mostly affected due to water shortage. Most of the water interventions in the three weredas targeted the main kebeles but sub kebeles are rarely addressed for their water needs. Interventions are restricted with birka construction that aims at addressing water consumption for domestic use. Those pure pastoralists living in the sub kebeles with huge number of animals rarely are targeted for water provision hence residents in sub villages are usually move with their animals in search of water. Fuel is another challenge facing the community using motorized scheme. Apart from the fuel cost that is responsible for high cost of water, access to fuel is also one of the biggest problems. Kebeles that are located far from the wereda capital suffered heavily either from absence of fuel when needed most or lacking means of

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transporting the fuel. This would stop the system when water is needed most by the community forcing unwanted migration to other water sources. Water quality is another severe problem that characterizes parts of the water sources. Especially deep underground water sources are affected mainly with high salinity that is not palatable to the community. In Dembel wereda Sondolol Kebele the BH drilled and the the system developed have never been used by communities due to high level of salinity according to the information from the wereda. Springs and shallow water sources are also affected negatively by salinity. Pastoralists appreciate some level of salinity in the water for their animals even if the water is not liked by humans for domestic use. Some water sources also are too saline for animals that the system is abandoned completely after a lot of investment to develop the source. Poor operation and maintenance is also another challenge facing the district. Lack of proper skills from the wereda side added fuel to the problems as the regional capacity is stretched to the limit in dealing with nine zones. Breakages of generators and system failures related to this are responsible for the shortage of water caused while water is available underneath. The research weredas lack the skill and the capacity to maintain the systems including hand dug wells. When functionality is considered, hand dug wells are highly affected negatively. The table below is taken from the district water desk compiled few years back. For example, the table shows 14 HDWs out of which 7 are not functional. Currently in Dembel wereda there are 16 BHs, 15 HDWs and 24 Birkads. Out of the 15HDWs in the district 13 are non functional or washed away by flood. This shows the rate the hand dug wells poor performance in the wereda.

Kebele Dembel Harmucale Kerenley Semecab Harewato Dure Sendelol Arabi Biyobahey Lownaji Agerweine Geregorey

Type BH* BH BH BH BH BH BH BH BH BH BH BH

Qty 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1

NF

Constructed (EC) 1992 2000 1993 1999 1993 1982 1999 1999 1988 2002 1999 1993 1999 1999

Organization R.Water Bureau HCS HCS HCS HCS Federal Water Min. HCS HCS Regional water B. Federal Water Min. Oromia water enterprise HCS HCS HCS and

1X

X 1 2 1 1 X 1X

Siti (Shinile) technical working group report

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Dereyga Agnawe Shebele Biyobahey Semecab Geggagi Gedi Giri

HDW* HDW HDW HDW HDW HDW HDW HDW

3 3 2 2 1 1 1 2

2X 3X

2001 1992,001 2002,001 2000 2000 2001 2001 2001

Oxfam/Unisod Dembel water office Dembel water office HCS WASH program WASH program WASH program

1X X

Migration either in search of water and pasture is also another factor affecting the weredas. This causes transmission of disease for both human and animals. Also migration to a single water point creates stress on the source and is a cause for short lived water sources. To limit the migration the weredas attempted water trucking which affected the coping mechanisms negatively. In Aysha during drought affected communities used to dig more in the dry river bed until the introduction of the water trucking. Hand dug wells and birkads unsustainable nature during dry season is another challenge facing the wereda. Most of the hand dug wells will get dry during normal dry season or are not functioning due to technical failure. Birkads only serve for few months and does not serve during drought or long dry season Failures of attempts of drilling of boreholes are another challenge the weredas are facing. Especially in Aysha wereda the success rate is assumed to be 50%. Kebeles in the three weredas One of the challenges faced by kebeles is high cost of water. In Mermersa kebele (Shinile wereda) one jerican of water costs 0.25cents which is 12.5 birr per m3. In Dire Dawa water is sold 1.5 birr per m3 and Mermersa is only 7km away. Also the cost to water sheep/goats is 10 cents per head, cattle 25 cents per head and camel 25cents per head of animal. In Gad (Shinile wereda) the cost of water raised from 0.25 cents per Jerican to 0.5 cents which is 25 birr per m3. Hence due to high price of water the community prefer to use water from dry river beds during wet seasons and the subsequent months up to the extreme dry seasons. In Biyodidley (Aysha Wereda) the cost of watering one camel and cattle costs 1.5 birr each. Also in Biyokobebe, Lasarat and Degago kebeles in Aysha wereda water is sold 0.5 cents per Jerican forcing the poor to look for other non protected sources like dry river beds. In Lasarat a cattle is charged 1 birr and a camel 2 birr also five shots are charged 1 birr. In Kerenley (Dembel) cost of watering one cattle is 0.5 cents and 10 shoats pay 3 birr. In Giliso where animals travel long distances in search of water pays 1 birr per cattle, 2 birr per camel and 0.5cents for three shoats. The poor in most of the kebeles cannot afford to pay hence are forced to travel long distances to the dry river beds. In semecab (Dembel) One Jerican costs 0.35 cents.

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Gad Community map- showing migration pattern

The systems are not accommodative of all the animal population. Out of the estimated 10,000 animals in Mermersa Kebele, the system could accommodate 4000 animals. Hence the rest are forced to the surrounding city and town i.e. Dire Dawa and Shinile. This takes us to the other challenge the community especially the women faces. The men are not willing to take the animals to Dire Dawa and Shinile which left no option for the women but take animals to the mentioned points. Gaad (Shinile wereda) community uses the borehole only for domestic purpose and animals drink from the dry river bed called Elbahey. There are six sub-kebeles under Gaad with an average distance of 9km which heavily depend on dry river beds and are badly affected during drought. The borehole in Biyodidley is not accommodative of animal population. This forces animals to make long and difficult journey in search of water. The Borehole in Lasarat (Aysha) could not accommodate the 31,000 animal population found in the kebele. Hence pastoralists are forced to travel with their animals to a place called Kurtumele 17km away especially during long dry season when the dry river beds no more supply water. This long and difficult journey is responsible for the weight loss and death of animals in extreme situations. There is another dimension to the problem. In Semecab (Dembel) there is water for both

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human and livestock population. There is also irrigation activity in the kebele. When the water is highly utilized for irrigation, livestock gets shortage of water. Due to shortage of water especially in dry season, pastoralists tend to limit their hygiene to the basics and washing clothes will be affected badly. When the drought hits badly, the Gaad borehole reduces its yield to 10m3 every 4 hours before it recharges. This forces residents to travel to 5-7km into the dry river bed to dig deeper and deeper which has a danger of collapse. This situation is unbearable by the woman headed households. The community in Lasarat reduces their water use from 260 litters to 120 litters per family during dry season. In Gilisa households reduce water use from 100 litters to 40 litters. Assuming average households of 6 people, during drought the water consumption would be 3.3 litters per person per day. This is less than the minimum requirement set in SPHERE International Standard in Emergency. Jedene community rely on hand dug wells where some of them are non functional. This unpredictable nature of the hand dug wells together with the drought where the yield diminished; the communities are forced to rely heavily on dry river bed called Dokley for short term and migrate to areas where there are boreholes.

Birka in Giliso- the only water source

Individual latrine under construction - Giliso

This migration has not been easier for the pastoralists. Asha Osman, Aged 47 and who lived in Jedene expressed one of the incidents as follows.
In 2009 severe drought I travelled with my children to shinile town. Two of my children collapsed on the way out of thirsty. I shouted and people with water on a donkey arrived and saved my two kids. Thanks to Allah

Due to shortage of the Borehole yields during drought season Biyodidley residents are forced to travel 27 km to other main kebeles with their animals. This journey during intense weather is a cause for lost of many animals. In Biyokobebe (Aysha) there are two motorized hand dug well where one of them is non functional and the

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other gets dry some months of the year forcing people to use river bed. But livestock production is dependent fully on the dry river beds throughout the year. Wild animals attack is experienced when community members make a long journey in search of water. The Mermersa Pastoralists faced wild animal attacks during their long journeys in search of water for their animals. In Gilliso Sefia Isse who is 30 years of age and have 8 family members encounter the following incident.
One time when I collect water with my neighbours from far place we had to spend the night. We were weighting at the water point for water. We lit firewood to get warm. Suddenly a lion appear and came to us. We finally chased him away by scaring him with fire. Another time a snake bites one of my friends when we went to collect water. She was sick for long time but finally her condition improved.

Giliso sub kebeleShowing basic infrastructures and migration patterns

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Also another woman encounters difficult experiences that even endanger their live.
Ahmed Jamas wife who was pregnant got miscarriage when she brings water from Shinile which nearly killed her.

There are disputes among community members to water their animals first with the wrong perception that the water will be finished before their turn. This incidents does not accumulate to a full scale conflict but is sorted amicably. There are also conflicts when women collect water for domestic use either from their own kebele or from other kebeles. Yousuf Ahmed aged 30 from Giliso kebele recall one incident.
My wife travelled to Deriga kebele to collect water. My wife fought with other women over the water at the queue. My wife who is stronger beats and hurt the woman badly. According to the custom our family was fined 3000 birr which I should have to pay. It was a burden for me but I had no option but pay in order to settle the matter.

Also there are conflicts among different communities on potential water and pasture sources. The community of Arabi (Dembel) and Agerweine (Dembel) have conflicts over a potential area called Rukisa. Due to frequent breakages of generator and switch board pastoralists are forced to travel long distances in search of water even for domestic needs including water for animals. In Mermersa the long journeys delay lunch for the whole community leading to stressful situation with husbands and students miss classes. Limited access to fuel is also another reason for water shortage. In Biyokobobe the frequent breakage of generator due to old age has led to all members of the community to turn to the open sources in the dry river beds. The four sub-kebeles under Biyokobele rely heavily on the dry river beds but are forced to travel long distance on average 10 km to this unprotected source for their day to day water needs. Transporting water from dry river beds is a huge challenge for most pastoralists. Some pastoralists rent donkeys or share with others. In Lasarat (Aysha wereda) the borehole is drilled 23km away from the kebele. The pipe line passes dry river beds which in flood time destroy part of the pipe. During this time water shortage will again force pastoralists to travel to the dry river bed for their domestic use 2 hrs away. Also Arabi (Dembel) community encounter frequent breakage of generator due to old age. Long queue is noticed to water points and complain that the reservoir is too small. It seems frequent pumping to the small reservoir to meet the demand overburden the generator. When Borehole is the only water source, it attracts pastoralists from different corners. This depletes the pasture and over stress the only water source. Long queues are characteristics of a single water source. In Gaad households are forced to form queue and took two hours to fetch water before they go home. In Jedene pastoralists from Bisle and Metto migrate with their animals to share the pastures

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which affect their pastures negatively. Some community members saw their land to be degraded to overgrazing. Arabi (Dembel) respondents feel that their area is degraded mainly because of attraction of animals to their areas due to pasture and water. All the sub kebeles of Semecab (Dembel), travel to Semecab in search of pasture and deplete it. Due to the pasture depletion erosion occur during flood and gullies are formed. When pastoralists living in sub kebele have lost their livestock, they migrate to the main kebeles which is responsible for the increased number of population. This has been noticed by the residents of Mermersa kebele and also Jedene community faces similar inflow of rural people into their village. Also in the other main kebeles similar trend had been noticed. Loss of crops including maize due to lack of supplementary water when the rain is unpredictable is a challenge that affect the livelihood of the residents. Reduced milk production during drought season also is another factor affecting their livelihood. Jedene community whom are mostly agro-pastoralists face those problems. Their rain fed agriculture is affected due to insufficient rain that resulted long dry seasons. Also crop diseases like Donishar, Stalkborer, and cut worm challenged their agropastoralism livelihood. Flood where communities live near by the dry river beds during rainy season is another challenge communities have to face during peak floods. In Mermersa kebele flood is a challenge the community had to deal with. The nearby passing dry river (seasonal) gets full and inundates the villages which forces members of the community to flee to Dire Dawa and Shinile. Quality of water is also another challenge facing the community. In Gaad the water available in Naas and Hadshe area causes stomach ache for humans and shoats. In Degago (Aysha) the borehole water is assumed to have bad consequences for older people. This has been told by ARRA to the community. But rather than going to the dry river bed which is far away they prefer the borehole due to its nearness for their domestic use. The other negative effect of the salty water from the borehole is its being a cause for infant diarrhoea. Shallow water sources especially hand dug wells suffer damage frequently. In Gaad two hand dug wells broken down and community could not use them to relieve the stress on the single borehole. In Jedene two Hand dug wells are not functional which forces them to rely on the dry river bed. In Biyokobebe out of the two motorized hand dug wells, one is out of function. The district suffers from loss of livestock to drought. Gaad community saw their animal population decreasing from 20,000 to 3,000. To compensate for the loss some becomes sellers of fire wood and charcoal. They know that they are destroying the environment but have no option to feed their families.

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Loss of livelihood due to high cost of water is also one challenge experienced by many pastoralists. In Degago (Aysha) due to the high cost of water for watering animals, pastoralists prefer to take their animals to dry river beds. But during severe drought and when the dry river bed no more provide them with water, they are forced to pay for their animals at the borehole within the kebele. This affects their livelihood very badly. The loss of livelihood is not only to the high cost of water but for the payment of renting animals to transport water from far distances. The people in Giliso pay for renting pack animals to transport water from far places after their birka water is depleted. This affects their livelihood considerably. A considerable number of Pastoralists living in sub kebeles are the most affected in terms of water shortage for domestic and livestock production. Giliso is one of the sub-kebeles visited and there is water shortage during normal and dry season (see community map on page 11 above). Sub-kebeles made long journey to the main kebeles to fetch water. The sub-kebeles around Biyodidley (Aysha wereda) always make a journey of on average 8kms everyday on foot. In Kerinley (Dembel) subkebeles lik Dulad and Bechecher living as far as 12 km and 6 km respectively travel to the main kebele for water during drought season when all the unprotected water sources are finished. The sub kebele called Harawato have Borehole for their water need. In Arabi (Dembel) sub-kebeles like Agerleged and Jabanta are known to be seriously affected by water shortage. Sub-kebeles of Semecab especially Adadle and Gafene and their animals travel to the main kebele in search of water travelling everyday 15 to 18km because the water availability in Semecab is good.

Biyodidley community map and the new pipe line project from Biyobahe to Adigala

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Sub kebeles around Biyo didley

Women are seriously affected in spending long time on collection of water. In Giliso sub kebele during dry season they spend 8 hours for water collection. This affects their livelihood as well as their household chores. This creates disputes in the households and cause students to miss class. In Arabi (Dembel) women spend long hours at water collection points and lost opportunities that could have been used for other activities. For six month the community spend 4 hours every day to collect water and three month 2 hours and another three months 3 hours. The sub-kebeles around Arabi spend 7 hours every day to collect water for 6 months. Extreme dry season brings a lot different challenge on the communities. During these times the coping mechanisms are stretched to the limit. Abnormal migration to very far distances is one of the incidences facing communities during very dry season. Communities in Kerenley (Dembel) travel with their animals to Jijiga in search of pasture. Schools are affected very much due to shortage of water. In Giliso (Dembel) there is a rain water harvesting system in the school that can collect 10m3 of water. But this water will be finished after 30 days and during a dry season the school students of about 360 in number are affected with shortage of water to continue learning. Birka dependent areas are highly affected for both shortage of water for domestic purpose throughout the year and no water at all for their livestock. Giliso is one of the kebeles that had to rely on birka. The birka they have is only one communal and the amount is around 700m3. The birka is of great help to the communities. When this assessment was being made communities were using it for their domestic need but

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their access is only limited to two jericans per day. After few months the water in the birka start to change its color and this causes diarrhoea. There are around 18,000 animal populations in Giliso. During wet seasons animals drink from the nearby dry river bed. During normal dry season animals travel to Hindis 9km away or to Shebele 11km away. The cost of watering animals in the Hindis borehole is expensive for them to cope with. But during severe drought humans and animals disperse to Hindis 9km away, Deriga 12km away, Dibirweyne 14km away, Shebelle 11km away and Boroley 12 hrs round trip to meet their water need. Most of the community prefer Shebele shallow wells and Boroley where water is for free. The better off who can afford to pay 1 birr per animal will go to Hindis Borehole. The long trip to the water points lead to Gowrelo (Name in Somali) disease that is responsible for Animals death. Animals also travel to Boroley Mountains in search of pasture when their pasture depletes. Fetching water from long distances is also a cause for many diseases and incidents of abortions on women in the kebeles. In Giliso (Dembel), Arabi (Dembel) and many other kebeles women who have the major responsibility of transporting water have developed kidney problem, back pain and also faces abortions which is a cause of death for pregnant women in the wereda. Natural geological formation restricting shallow and deep water development is another challenge facing kebeles. In Giliso and Biyo Ade (Dembel wereda) due to the basement rock recent geological studies suggested that the chance of drilling boreholes are low. Small Scale Irrigation initiatives from communities are facing some challenges of technology, limited irrigated land and shortage of water. In Beraq (Shinile) where agro-pastoralist dominate and lots of supports made by NGOs and GOs to improve the irrigation, water shortage is a challenge for the community. The spring water dependent irrigation is facing a challenge when some of the springs being damaged and needs maintenance. Where as in areas where people has to pump water from dry river beds to supplement their land, lack of pumping equipment and piping is a challenge for the struggling agro-pastoralists. In Arabi (Dembel) the irrigation is supplemented by water from the dry river bed. Due to lack of proper lining of the dug wells and lack of proper pumping technology including piping they face problems. During floods the dug wells are washed away and they are forced to dig another well putting them in a continued vicious circle. Also due to lack of rain the water table is receding with time. In Semecab (Dembel) earthen canal collapse, lack of proper support in terms of canal alignment and loss of considerable amount of water to seepage is a challenge faced by agro-pastoralists. Market for their agricultural product is another challenge expressed by the community. Poor Operation and maintenance of the system is one challenge affecting the community. Scheme breakage is the challenge facing all the motorized schemes due to reasons of generator breakage, pump burnout and switch board problem. Some of the problems could be avoided if all the protocol are followed. Many pumps are installed without electrode sensors to automatically stop the pump from working

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when the water level is reduced. The WaSHCO are not well trained to make preventive maintenance and small scale maintenances. The wereda lacks the skill and the capacity to do frequent maintenances. The skill shortage is also due to the many types of generators found in the different kebeles. Also the weredas water offices may have one vehicle to cover the whole wereda. Hence the regional water bureau is called for maintenance issue and during failures community has to rely either in the dry river bed if there is nearby or transport water from far places. One respondent in Arabi (Dembel) expressed that the money collected from the system is transferred to the wereda but the wereda do not do maintenances regularly. Maintenances are made haphazardly without proper study and consultation of relevant information about the system. In Semecab (Dembel) a pump is lost in the well and attempts made to retrieve fail. Then another pump of smaller capacity is installed which needs 2 hours to fill a 10m 3 fiber glass reservoir. This increased the cost of fuel for the community because they pump more to satisfy the population. Due to this reason they increased the cost of water from 15cents to 35cents per jerican.

Seasonal calendar showing water collection times in Giliso (sub kebele)

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RESPONSES Households During water shortages at normal times and during dry season many households decide to limit some of their household chores. Almost in all kebeles visited communities responded by saying during dry season they limit their needs at the house. Doing this affects activities like washing clothes and personal hygiene. Even where there is relatively good water availability the same responses were given by respondents. In Semecab (Dembel) during dry season households take similar action. The same is true for households living in areas of water shortage like Giliso. During normal seasons households that live near boreholes tend to move to open sources that require no cost of hand dug wells where there are no costs associated. This shift actually incurs a lot of time and energy but does not incur money. With limited subsistence available and pastoralist being a risky business, they tend reduce expenses for water which actually is expensive. Even if they know or do not know about the risk of non protected sources what matters to them is the cost of the water. During extreme water shortages members of households migrate in search of water and pasture during drought. This happens especially when the non protected sources become unreachable due to receding water table. This migration could be to another water source like borehole in nearby kebele or to a far place when nearby sources are inaccessible. In semecab (Dembel) during extreme drought the households stop irrigation activity and migrate to other areas. Where water sources are not accommodative to the whole population for domestic purpose especially during normal dry season, better off households share of pack animals they have to those who do not have. This strong social network helps community to stay together in times of crisis. Sharing of the animals is never been easy as the pack animals are not easily available. The owners also want to bring water for their own households. The sub kebeles are adapted to transport water every other day. Doing so helps them one day spare. Sub kebeles around Arabi kebele increases the number of pack animals to fetch more water for the next day. Travelling every day to transport water using pack animals is one way households devise ways of tackling their water shortage. Rather that all women making the trip to collect their water they share the responsibility and make the trips in rotation. Hence few women will make a long journey leading many donkeys with lots of jericans and collect the water. Collection of water in all the jericans and loading them in the donkeys is a heavy task. Added to this task is the additional task of leading the donkeys to and from the village. The women also have a duty of digging the dry river bed more when the dry season continues. Looking for sources that do not cost any money is also another duty of the women.

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Women are responsible for water collection (between dembel and Kerenly)

Community During drought season and water is short in kebeles schools are highly affected by water shortage and the normal teaching learning is affected up to the point that some schools are closed. In Giliso during such cases the members of the community contributed some amount of money and fill the tanker inside the school. There are also customary laws or regulations by the WaSHCO to limit the amount of water each household could take despite the number of households during scheme breakdown and during dry season when borehole water reduces its yields. In Semecab where relatively water is available during dry season WaSHCO limits the use of water by each household to three Jericans per day. The same is true in Giliso where water availability is very short at all seasons. The difference is when the birka water is finished in Giliso the rules no more work because then pastoralists determine what is best for them in accessing water. Construction of ponds to improve the water access is another coping mechanism to the shortage of water. The ponds could be used for a short period of time but are not reliable water sources due to seepage and silt accumulation. The ponds are constructed by the community because they are affordable as they only require labour. Government The weredas offices constructed hand dug wells and birkads from their budget in different parts of the districts to ease the shortage of water in their respective weredas. The wereda also involve in rehabilitating hand dug wells that are becoming more and more non functional. Aysha wereda is rehabilitating a hand dug well in Biyokobebe that was constructed during Italian time. Already a 25 m3 reservoir is constructed to pump water from that hand dug well. The community are looking

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forward to the completion of the project that they believe will alleviate the shortage of water in their kebele. Also the weredas are allocated funds by the regional government to construct communal birkads where there are no water sources before. The wereda are trying constructing limited number of birkad every year especially in sub kebeles where the problem of water is severe. During severe drought and shortage of water the wereda also allocate some funds to conduct water trucking. The water trucking aims to reach the neediest with a minimum amount of water usually one jerican per household every day. This is a costly intervention and addressing all the needy is not an easy task. Side by side to the water trucking the wereda also carried out livestock vaccination to prevent the transmission of livestock diseases. The regional government drill boreholes in different areas of the weredas. Boreholes are sustainable water sources but are expensive solutions. In Biyodidley (Aysha) the regional government drilled a borehole of depth 230m in 2007 GC. Biyodidley as the name implies is known for its water shortage until the borehole is drilled. Other interventions like pond construction could not solve the water shortage in the kebele. Recently a pipe line is under installation from Biyobahe to Biyodidley to supplement the borehole that is not enough to supply water for all needs. In Lasarat before 2000 E.C. there was severe water shortage but after the drilling by the government the situation very much improved. Non Governmental Organizations NGOs are had intervened in Shinile zone for many years and are still intervening with different activities. One of the interventions of NGOs is through the construction of Boreholes. This report only considers drillings carried out in the study areas. In Semecab before 10 years there was only one hand dug well. Then another Hand dug well equipped with motorized system is constructed by Oxfam GB. After the failure of the two hand dug wells, an NGO drilled a borehole in 1997 (EC) which eliminated the problem of water for domestic consumption. Construction of hand dug wells is another intervention NGOs are undertaking to alleviate the water shortage of the weredas. All the weredas under the study have many dry river beds that have huge potential for hand dug wells. An NGO dig a hand dug well in Biyokobebe before 10 years which was equipped with a pump. Rehabilitation of hand dug wells and boreholes are also other interventions by NGOs. Due to recurrent breakdown of scheme rehabilitation of hand dug wells and boreholes are becoming day to day activities of NGOs. Construction of birkads ia also another areas where interventions of NGOs to mitigate the water shortage focuses. Giliso had no birka before three years but after

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the construction of one birka by a local NGO the situation improved from worse to bad. Transmitting public health messages and construction of communal and individual latrines are other interventions NGOs focuses on. Safe water chain and safe hygiene practices are some of the education provided by NGOs. There are health committees organized by NGOs that are responsible the day to day follow up of communitys responses and actions. Distributions of water treatment chemicals for households are also other activities that aim to reduce water born diseases. Water trucking during extreme dry season is implemented by NGOs almost every year. Aridity caused by long dry season together with failures of most of the water points due to overload triggers the beginning of the trucking. Giliso kebele in Dembel district is one of the kebeles benefited from this intervention.
Kerenley Semecab

Jericans are widely used for collection, N.B. different types of water points (No standard)

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GAPS Lack of awareness on clean water chain of the community is one of the gaps identified. The community prefer low cost water irrespective of its quality. The community perception of clean water is very limited. There is a saying in Somali there is no bad water and bad mother. Proper methodology and approach with continued effort will help change their view point. There are sporadic efforts made to advocate safe water chain, latrine construction and good hygiene practices in the main kebeles. There are promising changes visible on the knowledge of the communities and some efforts are made to improve the sanitation status. The kebeles visited have started to dig pit latrines with the support they get from wereda health offices and different NGOs. But still there is a gap on the level of knowledge communities have to bring about the required change. Standard methodology and approach are lacking and there is no strategy for the wereda. Even if there are efforts made by government and NGOs to address the current water situation, there is still a gap between demand and supply of the population. The standard 20 litters per person per day still are not reached even in the main kebeles. In all the kebeles that the visits were made people are not satisfied with the amount of water they are getting currently. Also considering this amount still reduces during dry season shows the gap that should be filled to ensure the water security of the area. In Giliso the households are allowed to take two Jericans per household but their need is 6 jericans per household and this 6 jerican is exactly 20 litters per person per day considering an average household size of six people. Agro-pastoralist livelihood as a livelihood did not get the required attention except in Beraq where the whole community is agro-pastoral. In other areas people start by their own and suffer a lot due to crop failures, crop diseases and lack of enough knowledge. Also shortage of water and shortage of new technology are the challenges the agro-pastoralists facing. The experts that are assigned to most of the areas do nothing due to capacity issue and commitment. The support required in an arid and semi arid (ASAL) area should be quite different and a lot of work has to be done with respect to this. A thorough study using GIS mapping could be carried out in the weredas and areas that have potential for irrigation need to be identified meticulously. Areas that are not fit for irrigation could be used as rangeland for livestock production. The water intervention that was been carried out in the wereda for decades barely considers the sub kebeles needs. Addressing only main kebeles either in new construction and rehabilitation may help sub kebeles to benefit somehow but will still leave sub kebeles in desperate situations. Main kebeles feel inundated by sub kebeles animals and blame them for their area degradation. The community of Kerenley blame communities of Goflol, Aysha, Sondolol, senejif, Dure and Biyokobobe communities for their degraded land and the introduction of an unwanted tree transported by their livestocks that came in search of pasture. Even if accessibility is a problem addressing the sub kebeles problem is the way forward in addressing the weredas water shortage.

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Water treatment to alleviate the water quality is one area focus should be given. Due to the geological formation the some of the shallow and deep sources have high level of salinity. There is no standard in the region to limit the distribution of saline water to the community. The only standard people use is their tongue. If the water is not appealing to their tongue they will stop using it. Hence quality standard gaps should be closed and whenever possible and applicable water treatment technologies need to be employed before distributing such water. In Degago (Aysha) community feel that after the first borehole drilled 23 years ago there was no considerable attempt made to reverse the bad effects of the salty water. The other quality gap is water with faecal coli forms that are responsible for seasonal diarrhoea and other water born diseases. This is so especially in birkad water. All the birka water are turbid and could be disease causing. Decent treatment technologies that are low cost and that employ sand filtration could be ideal in the three weredas visited as sand is abundantly found. There is no proper and well documented ground water study in the wereda offices. This does not mean that studies are not carried out. Studies are carried out in uncoordinated fashion and the reports are only helping those who want the study mainly to drill boreholes or shallow wells. Once they finish the drilling they keep the report in their office not sharing the wereda. Also the wereda lacks the capacity and the skill to document datas in a sustainable manner due to issues related but not limited to staff turnover. Hence staff turnover is another gap that is hindering a smooth flow of information to better the extraction of the water resources in the wereda. Non standard designs of structures like hand dug wells, birka and surface works (reservoirs, water points and animal troughs) are other gaps noticed in the weredas. Non standard designs make supervisions difficult and capacity building for wereda staff is also difficult. Some designs make projects expensive and the extra money could have been used to implement other smaller water source. Also the electromechanical equipments installed in the weredas specifically generators, pumps and control panels are also are of different type and made which makes maintenances very difficult. Regional water bureau in times of system failure replaces equipments whatever is available on the shelf. This has complicated the situation of the wereda water office responsible for maintenance. Worse, this random intervention complicated the situation of operators who are responsible for the day to day operation and maintenance. In Lasarat (Aysha) even if the system is recent the generator gets very hot that needs to be cool frustrating the operators. Poor site selection when constructing water systems is a knowledge gap on those implementing the projects. Some of the visited hand dug wells and ponds are placed in areas that totally are not favourable for the respective system. Due to this reason some of the water sources/points are either washed with flood or been filled with silt. Due to this reason the water sources used to calculate the coverage in the district is actually are totally destroyed or non functional beyond repair.

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Supply of fuel for the generators is not an easy task for the WaSHCO. Due to difficulty in accessing and transporting of fuels to their kebeles, some water systems do not run even if there is no technical problem. This incurs additional load on pastoralists who uses the water source every day for their needs. Lack of spare parts for generators and hand pumps in the wereda offices or in shops is another gap that should be filled to smooth the operation and maintenance of the system. This problem has direct implication to the different types of generators available in the weredas. It is difficult to achieve continued supply chain when there are dozen types of generators in the wereda. Environmental impact assessment before implementing large scale water developments by almost all actors is lacking. The balance between water and pasture is not addressed when developing water sources. Communities complain for degraded land and depleted pasture almost in areas where there is a water source. There is abundant water in Biyobahe (Dembel) but still communities migrate almost totally in search of pasture. Poor road condition is another gap affecting all the weredas. Especially Dembel wereda lacks decent roads to help implementation of water schemes. Absence of better roads keeps implementers away. Some water points which are located on the main road received dozens of expansion and rehabilitation while others rarely rehabilitated or expanded.

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OPPORTUNITIES/ POTENTIAL All the three weredas visited have ground water potential that could be harvested properly for domestic, livestock production and agricultural activities. The mountainous terrain and the volcanic effects allow for ground water recharge. Proper ground water studies and underground mapping would be an effective way of tapping the ground water. The ground water potential can be divided as shallow, deep and very deep. Proper studies should be carried out that will lead to the decision that will be used to identify types of sources that need to be developed at a certain location. Ground water studies with database that could be accessed by anyone interested could be kept in the regional water bureau. There is already an initiative for this project through UNESCO to create a data base for the regional resources. Huge investment water supply schemes especially pipe line extension from areas of abundance ground water potential to areas where water is limited. An example would be the extension of pipe line from Biyobahe to Adigala via Biyodidley covering around 30kms. This type of interventions has the advantage of addressing the needs of pastoralists in between the source and the destination. The environmental impact, acceptability, introduction of conflict and the sustainability of the project should be studied very carefully before jumping into implementation. Shinile zone has also surface water potential attributed to springs. Durdur, Arabi (Demerjog), Semecab and Shebele are some of the examples that are found in the three weredas visited. This water sources attract a great number of animals from different directions. With coordination and better management these water potential areas could be utilized to ease the water shortage of the livestock community. Implementing agencies should give special attention and focus to this sources in terms of capping the sources properly to protect them from human and livestock interference that could destroy the springs once and for all. Proper attention should be given to protect the catchment areas of these sources and work hard to protect the sources from contamination. There is also another special ground water potential of the Zone. Kebeles in shinile wereda like Metto and Harawa and kebele in Dembel wereda like Biyobahe are known to have huge amount of accumulated ground water. Some of these water sources are being utilized for water supply for pastoralists and introducing irrigation to agro-pastoral communities and introducing agriculture as another alternative livelihood for pastoralists. If the utilization of the ground water accumulation is not supported by meticulous studies to understand the effects on the ground water vis avis the utilization, total failure and loss of ground water is eminent. Solar and wind energy is one of the potential of the districts that could be tapped to run pumps used to deliver water to pastoralists and agro-pastoralists. Considering the cost of water currently sold to pastoralists that have been weakened due to continued and recurrent drought, alternative energy sources are handy solutions to reduce the cost of water. Solar power technology has the advantage of low cost as

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compared to motorized schemes and almost zero operation and maintenance. The disadvantage with solar power is its limitation with depth. But with proper study and lesson learnt from other countries, acceptable solutions will be arrived. Already there are two solar powered systems in Aysha wereda in Elhele and Mermadobis that could be studied for their effectiveness. There are also solar powered pumping units for water supply in the zone which were not included in the wereda of research hence will not be discussed. Due to availability of dry river beds with abundant sand, sub surface dams and sand storage dams are ideal solution to store a considerable amount of water that could be used to supplement hand dug wells for both irrigation and serve as water supply for both human and livestock. Having this dams and subsequent hand dug wells with shallow depth could be used as a replacement for deep boreholes with a water quality that is both acceptable by the community and free from pathogenic organisms. Also solar powered pumps could be highly utilized in these types of sources. Already there are some sub surface and sand storage dams in the weredas. Due to limited knowledge of the construction procedure and lack of proper study and design some had been totally failed taking a lot of money with them. The weredas had witnessed astounding expansion of electric grid down to the kebeles within a short period of time. This new developments bring another opportunity that could be tapped easily. Deep boreholes that rely of fuel availability and running sporadically due to lack of fuel supply chain could be connected to the electric grid to ascertain their continuous supply. Considering the cost of fuel and the subsequent cost of the water that pastoralist and their animals are obliged to pay, electric grid will be an ideal solution in reducing the cost to an affordable level. But coordinated efforts from the wereda and the regional water bureaus would be required to work closely with the Ethiopian Light and Power Authority. The weredas have potential for medium and small scale Irrigation considering the land availability. Due to either rocky formation or prevalence of mountainous areas, the land that could be irrigated is limited. Also the rangeland that animals use as a pasture should be taken into consideration when planning irrigation. There should be a balance between the pasture land and the irrigated land. Proper study and research need to be conducted on this before jumping into implementation. But one should not forget that the by-products from irrigation activity supplement livestock production. Birka construction is one of the interventions many actors involve in. Due to thier smaller sizes birkads are not serving the population as expected. The birkads could take the community to some months into the dry season but could not take them throughout the dry season. Supper large Birkads could be designed that have bigger size than those that are usually implemented. To reduce the cost of construction geo-membranes could be used instead of concrete or masonry. Cost benefit analysis should be made before employing any option. Where there is expressed need for water, community are willing to contribute in excavation of the pit. This is another opportunity that could be utilized in implementing this solution. The community of

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Giliso in Dembel do not have any water source until one birka is constructed three years ago. All the digging work had been done by the community. Proper rain water harvesting for institutions like schools and clinics is another opportunity that could be exploited. Schools and clinics have roofs that usually waste the water to the ground either because of undersized system or no water harvesting system altogether. Properly harvesting the water on the roofs of the institutions will ease some loads from community members. Members of community will not invest to supplement water to the school affecting their income. Also interruption of school teaching learning will be avoided. Fibrocement tanks either underground or on the ground could be constructed with small initial cost. Some water sources in Aysha, Shinile and Dembel encounter water quality problem mainly due to salinity. Salinity reduction for big water supply systems is very expensive procedure. But there are also low cost salinity reduction methodologies that could be tried for low yield outputs. Freshwater generally covers water with Total dissolved Solids (TDS) up to 1000 mg/l, brackish water from 1000 to 10,000 and seawater above 35,000 mg/l. In certain cases brackish water may contain 10,000 to 35,000 mg/l TDS and it is then referred to as difficult brackish water. The salinity level found in the three weredas is between 1000 to <10,000 mg/l. Small desalination package plants or simple desalination technologies may be considered in situations where sufficient fresh water cannot be found and water has to be supplied by water trucks from far away. In such situations, desalinated water may be cheaper than what people presently pay for their scarce fresh water from far kebeles. Solar stills and Wood-fuelled stills could be introduced. Solar stills could serve a small community where as Wood-fuelled stills could be used at household level. Care should be taken when introducing wood-fuelled stills vis avis availability of fire wood. There exists strong Customary Institution and Customary Laws in Shinile that could be tapped for development of water schemes. By-laws could be passed that will help improve the sanitation situation of the area. The customary institution involvement will bring better solution during conflicts that may arise in introducing new technologies or solutions like pipe extension to other kebeles. Customary institutions could also be used to get the best out of community participation and contribution. Customary institutions could also be consulted when there are bad trends introduced from other parts of the region like land enclosure that hinder development activities. Somali Engineering Forum recently carried out in the region with the participation from different engineers from different organizations. The aim of the meeting is to standardise the different sets of designs that complicate the water supply projects and in some cases incur different costs for similar projects. All water structures like haffir dam, birkads, water reservoirs (underground, on ground and elevated), water points, cattle troughs, boreholes, hand dug wells, rain water harvesting and river intakes are dealt with in the forum and the outcome of the forum i.e. standards could be one part of the best practice water guideline currently prepared by the region.

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Water trucking during extreme dry season is a recurrent happening and may not be eliminated within a short period of time. Efficient and proper intervention of water trucking would help address the neediest and the marginalized without affecting the coping mechanism of the community. Using the existing commercial vendors that the population normally use, local water tanker businesses are supported and reinforced. Exit from the intervention is easier, as the commercial water tankers are still available in the area for those who would like to continue purchasing water. Direct water trucking interventions on the other hand, in which NGOs and GOs directly contract a large number of water tankers, often times distort the market rates for water and drives up prices for those who would normally like to continue purchasing water. The best approach to utilize the existing market system is the voucher system. Already the Somali region is developing water trucking by voucher guideline for the region that could be linked with the best practice water guideline currently under preparation. Looking at the different water schemes that are not sustainable during drought season, innovations need to be encouraged in the new guideline. Different methodologies that are been used elsewhere but were not tried in the Somali Region could be innovations in this context. Ranny wells and Infiltration galleries where there are streams and provision of sand filters to improve water from birkads (sand is abundantly available) could be promoted in the good practice water guideline. The other potential the region possesses is the commitment of the district authorities in alleviating the water situations in their location. Integrating the NGOs interest of the area due to its security with the district authority commitment, the designed goal could be achieved. Good coordination between district authorities and GGOs and joint planning should be a priority before any water development. Communitys willingness to contribute and participate in water projects is another great potential the district possess. Due to cyclical droughts communities abilities to involve in arduous activities might have been affected negatively. But with the right timing and with minimum cash support (Cash for work) this potential is of great help in achieving labour intensive activities like hand dug wells, sub surface dams, birkads could be harvested effectively.

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Potential for irrigation in Kerenley

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CONCLUSION

Pastorals and agro-pastorals living in the three weredas of shinile zone in particular and the zone in general suffer recurrent droughts that lead to chronic water shortages. This has a bad consequence of lost livelihood and livestock. Pastoralism is a risky livelihood and needs proper care and approach to flourish and support the economy of the region. If the current trend is not reversed with a coordinated effort, huge loss of livestock will lead destitute people to migrate to urban areas and/or environmental degradation due to unhealthy livelihoods like charcoal production and firewood selling. Cost of water is found to be too expensive for pastorals who already suffer due to recurrent drought that stretched their resilience to the limit. The money collected from water selling is much and there is mismanagement of funds or misallocation of funds. No proper tariff set up is made and tariffs are determined a desired by those managing the system. Demand and supply do not much and communities make long journey to meet their demands or turn to other non protected sources. Most water schemes are designed to meet the human consumption need without considering the animal population. This could be easily been seen by looking at the capacity of the reservoirs. Implementers put bigger tanks in peri-urban areas whereas smaller tanks in rural areas where human population is smaller. Operation and maintenance in general management of water schemes are at a low ebb which exasperated the shortage of water in the zone. Almost all kebeles visited reported that the major problem they are facing is scheme breakdown and subsequent delay in maintenance. Also when pumps are replaced pump test results are not consulted due to absence of data either at the wereda or the region level. Lack of centralized information in the weredas of the developed system leads to chaos when implementers show desire in rehabilitating schemes. Also lack of datas of studies carried out in the wereda leads to repeated studies of similar nature in same locations leading to wastage of resources. Staffs overturn at the wereda level together with lack of data base in the wereda lead to lack of institutional memory. Non standard water scheme structures and electromechanical equipment leads to shortage of skilled manpower and available spare parts. No one expects a single shop to keep spare parts of more than 20 types of different generators. Addressing these issues will help alleviate the water situation in the weredas in particular and in the zone in general to a higher level.

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RECOMMENDATION The following recommendations are made to reinforce the Good Practices Guideline for Water Development in the region and to ensure its success in bringing about the intended changes. Regional water bureau to work very closely with sector bureaus that deal with pastoralism and agriculture. Clarifying overlapping mandates of all sector bureaus enhance coordination. Relating labour intensive water structures like birkad construction with food security projects to supplement the livelihood of pastoralists and to fight the dependency syndrome. Promoting innovative sustainable designs that are adaptive to the environment and supporting financially and awarding best innovations. Experience sharing visits to other pastoral and agro pastoral areas within the country or out of the country to draw lesson and adapting the lesson to the context of the region. Based on the new Good Practices Guideline for Water Development strategies need to be developed that sets minimum requirement for sanitation and hygiene and minimum daily requirements for design of water schemes, minimum sizes of rain water harvesting structures and standard designs and standardizing the electromechanical equipments and items. The outcome of the Somali Engineer Forum would be of great benefit in achieving this goal. Proper setup of tariffs for water schemes separately as one system is different from the other in terms of inputs and other expenses. Blanket tariff setup has affected communities already. Strong operation and maintenance with proper and regular training of wereda staff and WaSHCO taking into consideration the staff overturn prevalent in the wereda. Standard operation and maintenance guideline prepared in the local language. Setting minimum requirements to the set of tools to be handed over to the WaSHCO. Promoting documentation at the wereda level and introducing institutional memory culture by awarding weredas with proper documentation. Making document sharing to weredas one criteria to sign MOUs with NGOs or other implementing actors. Promoting alternative energies like solar and wind and replacing shallow wells with solar energy. Encouraging and supporting the local businesses that are introducing these energies.

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