Berkad

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A berkad is a water reservoir used in arid areas to collect water during the wet season for use in the dry season. They occur mainly in Somalia and parts of Ethiopia.

Somalia Federal republic in Africa

Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia (Somali: Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya; Arabic: جمهورية الصومال الفيدرالية‎, translit. Jumhūrīyah aṣ-Ṣūmāl al-Fīdirālīyah, is a country with its territory located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti and Somaliland to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. It is separated from Socotra by the Guardafui Channel in the northeast and from the Seychelles by the Somali Sea. Somalia has the longest coastline on Africa's mainland, and its terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Climatically, hot conditions prevail year-round, with periodic monsoon winds and irregular rainfall.

Ethiopia country in East Africa

Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country in the northeastern part of Africa, popularly known as the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, and Somalia to the east, Sudan and South Sudan to the west, and Kenya to the south. With over 102 million inhabitants, Ethiopia is the most populous landlocked country in the world and the second-most populous nation on the African continent that covers a total area of 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000 sq mi). Its capital and largest city is Addis Ababa, which lies a few miles west of the East African Rift that splits the country into the Nubian Plate and the Somali Plate.

Contents

Construction and operation

Berkads were introduced to Somalia in the late 1950s. [1] Most are large rectangular, elongated basins with vertical walls and a capacity of several hundred cubic metres (similar to the size of a swimming pool), sometimes three to four metres deep. The walls and bottom are often covered in brick and/or coated with cement to reduce water loss due to infiltration to groundwater. At the top, they are open but often covered with canvas to reduce evaporation, or (in poorer villages) with nets on which is laid anything that provides shade (branches, straw, etc.).

Berkads fill naturally in the rainy season. They are placed in locations where small streams form during rain, which are then routed to the berkad with dug trenches. A berkad can sometimes be filled in a few hours. In villages with poor water availability, feed channels can be a few kilometres long, and take the form proper canals coated with cement and/or covered. Berkads are often clustered together.

Water quality

The inlet of the berkad often has a so-called "catch-pool": a small open reservoir that the water flows through before it enters the large basin. This allows a large part of the transported sediment to settle and other contaminants to be removed. The water in a berkad is nevertheless often turbid and muddy and can pose a health risk. One solution consists of making the tank airtight by constructing a sloping roof over the berkad, often with corrugated sheeting. Water evaporates, condenses on the underside of the roof, runs down into gutters and is collected in a separate metal tank, from which water can be used via handpump. This not only distills the water, but also reduces water losses due to evaporation. [1] Such systems are, however, often too costly for villages to install themselves.

Flow-on-impacts

The construction of berkads also has disadvantages. In the late 1950s there were only still only a few water points in the Haud, a vast steppe on the border of Somalia and Ethiopia of importance to nomads with their cattle. Nomads roamed according to a traditional seasonal migration and always had to take into account the number of days to walk to the next place where they could water their cattle. Around 2001 there were already around 7000 berkads in the Haud, such that the area is now permanently grazed. This overgrazing leads to ecological degradation and erosion. Settlements also arise around clusters of berkads, increasing population pressure. [2]

Haud is a region of thorn-bush and grasslands in the Horn of Africa. It includes the eastern side Somali region or the Ogaden.

Overgrazing intensive grazing

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Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, the Gulf of Aden to the north, the Somali Sea and Guardafui Channel to the east, and Kenya to the southwest. With a land area of 637,657 square kilometers, Somalia's terrain consists mainly of plateaus, plains and highlands. Its coastline is more than 3,333 kilometers in length, the longest of mainland Africa and the Middle East. It has been described as being roughly shaped "like a tilted number seven".

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References

  1. 1 2 Sardella, Carolina S.E.; Waterloo, Maarten J.; de Haas, Sander; Gijsbertsen, Cedrick. "Evaluation of the implementation of the solar still principle on runoff water reservoirs in Budunbuto, Somalia" (PDF). Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  2. Birch, Izzy (2008). "Securing Pastoralism in East and West Africa: Protecting and Promoting Livestock Mobility - Somaliland/Somali Region Desk Review" (PDF). Retrieved 5 February 2017.