River Intersection

As our design progresses we continue to realize that there are gaps in our information. Fortunately, the guys at Human Translation have been ready and willing to help. An example of this situation was when the Hydro Team found a potential river intersection approximately 6km up stream from the Trau Kod reservoir. Depending on the water flow at this intersection the catchment area could be doubled so this intersection has a huge impact on the hydrological analysis. wiL put together the image above to help explain the location to HT. The Australia shaped body of water on the left is our future reservoir and the orange star on the right is the potential river intersection.
We provided GPS points and tried to explain the approximate location very clearly, however, it took three trips to the area for HT to find the intersection. This was certainly not due to a lack of effort. As you can see from the image of the river intersection above it is extremely difficult to survey areas with the heavy vegetation, conflicting local reports and potential land mines.

Despite all of the difficulties, HT was able to send us this sketch explaining this complicated river intersection and our hydrological analysis has been able to continue.

WUG

Lately, we have been focused on our design deadlines but the importance of the reservoir Water User Group (WUG) keeps coming up as an extremely important aspect of this project. The main goal of our efforts is to build lasting irrigation infrastructure for the Balang Commune. However, the long term effects of our conservative design, the detailed QA/QC procedures and construction oversight may still be greatly diminished if local leaders, as shown in Tobias' photos, do not understand the importance of regular maintenance and a fair water distribution plan.
There appears to be many reports regarding water management in developing countries; each with very specific plans of action. But, from what we have heard, these plans have not often been successfully implemented. Rather, finding strong local leaders within the community is the key for a successful WUG.