OL 332 WATER CONSERVATION & MANAGEMENT

Community scale water harvesting, watershed management, rainwater harvesting.

For agricultural water management please see OL 333

Train Online: 8 weeks. Courses are offered every two months. Current offering dates are in the column to the side.
To enroll, simply go to the bottom of this page.

Prerequisites: OL 102 – or – OL 342.
Why are there Prerequisites for Advanced Courses?

Man in desert planting a tree

Water Conservation and Management. A shortage of water or unreliable access to water is one of the biggest issues in development. Community water sources dry up during climate change related drought—or seasonally during the dry season.

To learn about course fees and to register please go to the bottom of this page.

There is competition among different segments of the community for available water. Discussing community water challenges calls for stepping back from the immediate problem and looking at the relevant underlying causes for the shortage of water in order to begin developing solutions.

This past quarter CSDi has seen a number of water related partner projects worldwide. We are seeing tremendous similarities between the projects: not enough water, too much water—and contaminated water. These challenges lead to reduced harvests, reduced income, reduced food security and nutrition, chronic ill health from waterborne disease, and flooding.

Agricultural families suffer from widespread malnutrition caused by climate variability—including extreme drought that reduces crop yields & negatively impacts livestock. These challenges exacerbate the already complex problem of poverty due to a lack of agricultural income. Combined, they lead to chronically malnourished and frequently ill children—and an inability to purchase food and pay for children’s education and health care.

The solutions that students have been developing include a community-based water use management plan. Community members will first develop a participatory mapping of water resources and uses, and then consult with a water management expert to develop a participatory process and training program for developing the water use management plan.

The course includes an overview of water conservation techniques complete with downloadable manuals and field guides for each technique. See the full syllabus below.

To earn a diploma in Integrated CBA, DRR and Rural Development, you must complete four required, sequential foundation courses, then select four elective courses (such as this one—OL 332) of your choice for a total of eight courses. With a wide variety of electives, you are able to tailor the diploma program to meet your contextual needs and interests.

 
What Students Think About the Online Courses

OL 332 Course Syllabus

Week 1. Local Context
Facilitating the organization of community-based Water Conservation and Management Committee.
  • Contact a water management expert about developing a participatory process and training program.
  • Facilitate the organization of community-based Water Conservation and Management Committee.
  • If you formed a committee and OL 343, you can simply form a subcommittee for this.
Week 2.
Community workshop on participatory mapping of water resources
  • Survey community members to identify their knowledge of water use. Identify local knowledge on conservation techniques.
  • Community workshop on participatory mapping of water resources, uses, challenges and ecosystem services.
  • If you did this in OL 343, you can use that information.
  • Identify important water sources and challenges.
  • Prioritize degraded watersheds, water springs, rivulets, ravines and man-made waterways for protection/restoration.
Week 3. Water Resources Management
Water Management Committee

Setting up a Water Management Committee developing a Water Management plan. In week 8 of OL 343 you set up a community based water management committee. You can use the same technique to set up a Community Based Water Management Subcommittee. The committee will be in charge of developing a Water Management plan. Setting up a subcommittee is a much more rapid process than setting up a full committee.
Week 4. Design Techniques: Environmental Restoration
Farmer practicing watershed management and soil and water conservation
  • Evaluate results of participatory mapping of water resources and challenges.
  • Watershed management and soil and water conservation.
  • Watershed restoration and conservation through reforestation.
  • Check dams for controlling runoff and plugging gullies.
Week 5. Design Techniques: Water Harvesting. What is water harvesting?
Household rooftop rainwater harvesting.
  • Household rooftop rainwater harvesting.
  • Water collection and rainwater storage. Rainwater harvesting tank.
  • Work with local designers and material providers to design affordable, appropriate, rainwater harvesting systems.
  • Simple point of use water purification systems.
  • Community-level rainwater harvesting.
  • Subsurface dams. Small earth dams. Water from rocks. Reservoirs.
  • Rain water storage tanks.
Week 6. Planning for Conservation
Committee workshop on developing a community based water use
  • Propose appropriate techniques to the Water Conservation and Management Committee for feedback.
  • Committee workshop(s) on developing a community based water use, conservation and management plan.
Week 7. Workshop Planning
Voting to prioritize which water conservation/management technique should be used first
  • Prioritize which water conservation/management technique should be introduced in the first workshop.
  • Contact water expert for feedback and input
  • Develop a workshop lesson plan.
  • Draw a how-to card.
  • Arrange the date and location for the workshop with your community contact person.
  • Arrange for supplies and tools for the workshop with your community contact person.
Week 8. Capacity Building
Facilitate the capacity building workshop in the field.
  • Organize your own presentation materials.
  • Arrange for colleagues to accompany you in facilitating the workshop.
  • Ask water management expert to join you in the workshop
  • Facilitate the capacity building workshop in the field.
 

 The Course also Provides the Following Resources

Documents on course topics by contemporary experts.
Books, posters and manuals available online for download.
Internet development links organized by sector.
Class blog for sharing your stories and photos from the field.
Class forum for posting questions to your classmates.
There are no books to buy—all course materials can be linked to, or downloaded from the course site.

Visit the companion course: OL 333: Climate Smart Agricultural Practices for your CBA project.

Prerequisites
There are prerequisites for taking this course: Either OL 102 – or – OL 342. Please don’t sign up for this course if you haven’t successfully completed the prerequisites.

Choose which price fits your profile.
Course Fees:
1. The 8-week course is $100.00 for citizens of developing nations.
2. The 8-week course is $150.00 for citizens of developed nations.

When you are ready to enroll, click ‘Enroll Now’ at the bottom of the page. Questions? Online.Learning@csd-i.org .

You will be sent your Login username and password, and instructions for starting the course the Monday, before the course begins. We look forward to meeting you.

The online course will be led by Tim Magee, CSD’s Executive Director, who has over 30 years experience in both working with nonprofits and leading training workshops. Mr. Magee is the author of A Field Guide to Community Based Adaptation published by Routledge/Earthscan.

Prerequisites: OL 102 – or – OL 342.
Prerequisites are absolute: please do not ask us for an exception.
If you have not completed the prerequisite courses please do not sign up for this advanced course.
Why are there Prerequisites for Advanced Courses?

If you have a question don’t hesitate to contact us at: Online.Learning@csd-i.org .

Space is limited.

Enroll now in OL 332