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Introduction:

<div style="text-align: justify;">Freshwater is one of our most precious resources on Earth. Compared to the salty seawater, freshwater is scarce, just 3% of all water, and most of this is totally unreachable since it is locked up in the huge Arctic ice sheets and glaciers, or is flowing in rivers such as in Siberia where little of it can be used. 
 
The freshwater that is available to human use is being used very intensively, and being used more and more - often in totally unsustainable manners. An example of this is how Saudi Arabia was wasting a huge underground freshwater reserve under the desert to grow alfalfa and grass to feed cattle for the meat they wanted. In a short time the aquifer was greatly reduced and the valuable drops were gone - wasted because of the immediate profit that could be gained on a resource that did not have a price besides the cost of pumping it up. But the aquifer is gone and will not be filled again unless some time in the future a climate again turns these desert areas into the green areas they were some 10,000 years ago. 
 
The scary thing is that our freshwater resources are dwindling because of overuse, but also because of climate change. There is no doubt that there will be less water available for irrigation, for industrial and other uses. Agriculture is the major user of freshwater with about 70% of the freshwater being used here. It is therefore imperative that farmers find out what they can do to use this valuable resource more efficiently. 
 
One part of this consists in growing crops that are appropriate for the climate. So you do not grow alfalfa and fodder grass in desert areas such as in Saudi Arabia or Southern California. 
 
Another part is about using the water efficiently, for example by timing irrigation to reduce evaporation and by using micro drip systems where possible. 
 
What this task deals with is about capturing as much as possible of the rain water and reducing losses of water through evaporation or through leaching down through the soil. As you will learn there are many ways to do this and it is essential that farmers start to use and master these practices before we reach the stage where it is too late to learn.</div>

Directive:

<ol>
	<li>Study the file "Selecting a water harvesting technique" to determine which systems fit best to your local conditions.</li>
	<li>Skim (You do not need to read the whole text) through the file describing a number of such water harvesting systems, select two of these and prepare two draft posters to present how to set up the system and the benefits of doing so.</li>
	<li>Train yourself to be able to explain this, using the posters.</li>
	<li>Show your draft posters and give your explanations to some of your colleagues, or other people interested in this issue, in order to get comments and improve the message.</li>
	<li>Produce the final version of the two posters, which you can later use at an Open Sunday, Garden Day or other public event, and send a photo or copy of them to your tutor.</li>
</ol>
Files: 
 
F1. Selecting a water harvesting technique, by J. Anschutz et. al, from "Water harvesting and soil moisture retention", Agromisa Foundation, Wageningen, 2003, P. 28-32. 
 
F2. Water harvesting systems, by UNEP, from "Securing Water and Land in the Tana Basin: a resource book for water managers and practitioners", 2012. 
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