Potential of Road Rainwater Harvesting in Yemen – Its Social, Environmental and Economic Benefits: A Case Study of Sana›a – Hodeida Road, Yemen

Abstract

Abstract In Yemen, farmers and people living along the roads are suffering from the lack of utilization of rainwater runoff from road surface & surrounding area and road water structures. The objectives of this research is to optimize the benefits of Road Rainwater Harvesting (RRWH) to the beneficiaries during road design, construction and operation & maintenance; to suggest a technical outlines; to induce the awareness of road’s engineers on the importance of Integrated Water Harvesting Management (IWHM), in addition to discussing the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA). The research approach focused on conducting field visits and applying a reconnaissance survey to document the current and potential road rainwater structures along the pilot section of 24 km as part of Sana’a – Al-Hodiedah road between Al- Masajed village and Sooq Al-Aman; Designing and applying questionnaires and interviews for farmers & beneficiaries, and road engineers. The SPSS software program was used to analyze the collected data. From the conducted interviews along the road, it was revealed that almost all the stakeholders have land adjacent to the roadside, and their farms are irrigated from rainwater collected from road structures. All inhabitants considered water floods running from/on the road surface and structures as their rights, and it is distributed at the moment according to the field’s water rights which exist before the road construction. The research found that almost all farmers considered the water from roads as contaminated water. The source of contamination comes from residual oil on the road, diesel, oil from oil shops and suspended soil particles. On the other hand, according to the road engineer’s questionnaire, the concept of water harvesting, groundwater recharge and water for irrigation from road surface and road structures were not considered during design. In addition, the results obtained showed that water-harvesting techniques in the pilot road section is in the form of farmers’initiatives implemented by directing water to their farms for irrigation. The study conclude applying RRWH to protect the road sections from erosion and damage; increase the availability and utilization of water in the areas nearby roads; minimize the erosion of landscape especially in mountainous areas as well as in road embankments; improve the stabilization of the road slopes; and maintain esthetic value of landscape nearby roads. It is recommended that road drainage structure should be located in a proper place to avoid conflicts among farmers and fulfill their water rights. To avoid soil and water contamination by oil, grease and fuel from vehicles along the road, the research recommends that oil workshops should be implemented and forced to collect and recycle oil instead of disposing it on the road surface. RRWH is recommended to be applied to mitigate the damage of terraces during the heavy runoff. The study urges the joint efforts from all stakeholders and road engineers to apply the suggested technical outline in this paper by including rainwater harvesting from roads as part of road design, implementation and maintenance. Keywords: rainwater harvesting, road design, culverts, engineers,stakeholders, farmers, ESIA, Yemen, social and economic benefits.