Over the past two decades a quiet revolution has been taking place in the countryside of China where hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. This book focuses on some of the practical actions and clever use of appropriate technologies which have been at the heart of this positive grassroots-driven change in rural Gansu Province. Key to this has been mobilizing the population and their expeditious use of rainwater harvesting both to dramatically improve crop yields and provide households with reliable domestic water supplies. Since Gansu is semi-arid and stored rainwater a scarce resource, ingenious systems of providing crops with just the right amount of supplementary irrigation at critical periods have been developed. Challenges such as lack of fuelwood have been overcome by the development of simple low-cost solar cookers, which by focusing the sun’s rays using tiny mirrors can boil a kettle in minutes. These affordable units are now being produced at hundreds of small rural factories. The construction of low-cost greenhouses using plastic sheeting allows for the collection of rainwater and its use in efficient drip irrigation systems. By supplying vegetables and cash crops to local markets farmers have been able to repay their initial investment in under two years. The real significance of this case study is that most of the approaches described are based on universal principles of sustainable development.

Every Last Drop is recommended reading for engineers, planners, staff of NGOs, academics and students in the water, energy, and agriculture sectors.

Table of Contents:

Preface

1) Background to climate and historic water situation in Gansu
1.1 Shuijiao, the rainwater storage tank
1.2 The Traditional Shuijiao (Water Cellar)

2) Upgraded Water Cellar Designs
2.1 The Thin Walled Water Cellar
2.2 The Concrete Domed Water Cellar
2.3 The Cylindrical Water Cellar
2.4 Rainwater Harvesting System design procedure development

3) Replication of new rainwater harvesting techniques in Gansu
3.1 Reasons for the rapid spread of rainwater harvesting systems

4) Rainwater Harvesting based Irrigation Systems in Gansu
4.1 The challenge of dryland farming and innovative solutions
4.2 Rainwater Harvesting based irrigation systems
4.3 Principles and feasibility of Rainwater Harvesting based irrigation

5) Irrigation Methods using Rainwater
5.1 Simple and affordable Irrigation Techniques
5.2 Micro-irrigation using Rainwater Harvesting System
5.3 Micro catchments using rainwater concentration
5.4 Optimizing the irrigation schedule

6) Prospects for Rainwater Harvesting in Dry Areas

7) Solar cooker technology

8) Future plans and conclusion

Appendices
References and sources of further information
Index