In the High Atlas Tifnoute Valley, a 7-km irrigation system will profoundly improve the lives of 3,500 people (14 villages) whose homes and crops are frequently destroyed by landslides. The system will run along a mountain summit and irrigate 20 hectares of 10,000 walnut and cherry trees and stabilize the mountainside. A reservoir will be built above each village to provide clean drinking water. The water source is a spring located 3,500 meters above the first in the line of benefiting villages.
Due to deforested mountainsides and heavy seasonal rains received annually, the Tifnoute Valley is vulnerable to erosion and mud slides which destroy villages and the subsistence crops that they depend on. Also, due to no potable water, the villagers drink from irrigation ditches and streams that contain high rates of harmful micro-organisms because they are open and pre-used by upstream communities and animals. The remote and marginalized region now has this special project opportunity.
A piped water delivery system will be installed to serve 14 villages. Rather than flow directly down the mountainside into the river, water will be diverted along the mountain summit, into the irrigation pipelines and then to reservoirs above each village to supply clean drinking water. Below the summit, constructing agricultural terraces will enable pressure/drip irrigation of the walnut and cherry trees (to be planted), maximizing water efficiency and the number of trees that can be planted.
Long-term goals are to: double average household incomes, benefiting 3,500 people by planting and harvesting 10,000 walnut + cherry trees; stabilize the mountain area by constructing agricultural terraces that prevent erosion and deforestation-caused mudslides; install clean water systems that reduce water-borne diseases, halve infant mortality, and increase availability of time for women and girls to engage in education activities; diffuse modern irrigation by installing pressure/drip systems.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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