Water Ponds in Omereque, Bolivia

Water Ponds in Omereque, Bolivia

Mano a Mano staff traveled to 4 communities in the municipality of Omereque, Bolivia on December 19-21 to provide environmental education workshops, and visit some of the water ponds (atajados) that Mano a Mano has built in the area.

In 2010, Mano a Mano built 153 atajados, or small water ponds, in Omereque. Each pond provides water for one to four Bolivian farm families. We have recently been doing a cleanup project of some of these ponds, as well as building new water ponds and drilling wells, to help address the serious drought conditions that are currently affecting Omereque and more than 41% of the other municipalities of Bolivia.

Site Visit to Omereque Water Ponds- December 19-21, 2016

Staff from Mano a Mano Internacional, and our Center for Ecological Agriculture, traveled to the communities of Robles, Mesada, Huertas, and Quebrachas to provide environmental education workshops for residents where we had built water ponds years before, and are currently in the process of finishing up some maintenance and cleanup work so that the ponds are better able to capture more rain water.

The rainy season usually begins in November, but at the time of the site visit there had only been two significant rainfalls so far. Many of Mano a Mano’s atajados currently have significant water, but some have not yet collected any water because of the slow beginning to the rainy season. For residents here, these atajados are their only source of water for irrigating their fields, and we are hopeful the remaining few months of the rainy season will bring enough water.

The goal of Mano a Mano’s water projects (reservoirs and water ponds) is to collect rain water and snow melt so that communities can have year-round access to water, which enables them to irrigate their fields more often, harvest more crops, and ultimately improve nutrition and economic well-being.

More Pictures From the Site Visit to Omereque