Gaondongrem, Cotigao villagers look for water supply from Gaunem dam.
CANACONA: The Gaunem minor earthen dam project, which was initiated in 2011, taking into view the dire water needs of the people of Gaondongrem and Cotigao villages, has been completed, informed sources.
And, now it will be the Public Works Department which has to start work on building the necessary infrastructure like water treatment plant and network for the distribution of water to the villages.
Once the approval is granted, the necessary work will start, said D’Souza.
During the summer, the people from these areas travel long distances to fetch drinking water with pots on their heads.
Some dig holes near the rivulets and extract water using coconut shells.
The source said that the dam has a height of 27.75 metres and the rain water will be only source for the reservoir.
Since Canacona receives on average of around 110-120 inches of rainfall a year, it will suffice the storage, the source said.
The dam would help recharge ground water table, which will recharge nearby wells.
It may be recalled that the work on this project started in 2011 which continued up to 2012, but midway in 2013 the work was suspended following re-designing of the project by raising the dam height by 2 metres.

Sathanur dam water not distributed properly: Velu.
Velu, Tiruvannamalai MLA and DMK district secretary, on Tuesday said the administration had failed to properly distribute water available in the Sathanur Reservoir.
Earlier, he visited pick-up dam of Sathanur Reservoir from where water is tapped for irrigation and drinking water needs of Tiruvannamalai town and other villages.
Mr. Velu said water supply schemes helped supply water to 200 villages, Tiruvannamalai municipality, Chengam and Pudupalayam town panchayats.
First of the three Sathanur Combined Water Schemes was initiated in 1972 through which 25 lakh litres were supplied to Tiruvannamalai town.
The second scheme implemented in 1974 supplied another 80 lakh litres to Tiruvannamalai.
Using these schemes, the administration claimed that 120 litres of water per day per person was being supplied to Tiruvannamalai town.
Thandarampattu, Radhapuram, Sirupakkam, Mel Chettipattu, Keel Chettipattu and Nallavanpalayam were supposed to get water from Sathanur CWSS.
But it was not sao.
Thanippadi village located near Sathanur was not getting sufficient water and the available water too was not clean.

Murang’a water firm to build Sh3 billion mega dam.
According to the initial design, it will be set up in Kangema where the county borders the Aberdares Forest and will have a capacity of 400,000 cubic metres.
Residents have complained over water scarcity due to the current drought.
Murang’a Water and Sanitation Company (Muwasco) plans to build a Sh3 billion mega dam in a bid to meet the needs of area residents.
According to the initial design, it will be set up in Kangema where the county borders the Aberdares Forest and will have a capacity of 400,000 cubic metres.
The water will not only be used for domestic purposes, but will facilitate irrigation in the semi arid lower parts of the county.
These include Mukuyu, Kambiti and Maranjau.
Residents have complained over water scarcity due to the current drought.
“As a result of devolution, we are having very many people settling in the county.
We want to invest in storage so we can cater for growing need,” he noted.

In science news this week: Innovative program builds partnerships, provides wildlife habitat; The ecology of non-native fish in the San Joaquin River; Turtles die in Southern California lake following drought and fire; Scientists link California droughts to distinctive atmospheric waves; Rivers, dams, and drive-by truckers; US streams carry surprising mixture of pollutants; 7 cool facts about water striders; An electric fix for removing long-lasting chemicals in groundwater; and Understanding Earth’s climate Innovative program builds partnerships, provides wildlife habitat: “As Rob Crawford drove around his property, something caught his eye.
… ” Read more from FishBio here: The ecology of non-native fish in the San Joaquin River Turtles die in Southern California lake following drought and fire: “Almost all of the turtles living in a southern California lake died following a large fire and years of drought, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report published in the journal Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems.
… ” Read more from the USGS here: Turtles die in Southern California lake following drought and fire Scientists link California droughts to distinctive atmospheric waves: “The crippling wintertime droughts that struck California from 2013 to 2015, as well as this year’s unusually wet California winter, appear to be associated with the same phenomenon: a distinctive wave pattern that emerges in the upper atmosphere and circles the globe.
… ” Read more from Climate.gov here: Scientists link California droughts to distinctive atmospheric waves Rivers, dams, and drive-by truckers: “When it comes to hydropower dams, the world is a pretty polarized place.
… ” Read more from the Cool Green Science blog here: Rivers, dams, and drive-by truckers US streams carry surprising mixture of pollutants: “Many U.S. waterways carry a variety of pollutants, but not much is known about the composition or health effects of these chemical combinations.
… ” Read more from Science Daily here: US streams carry surprising mixture of pollutants 7 cool facts about water striders: “Water striders are one of the most interesting and enjoyable aquatic creatures to observe.
There have been some 1,700 species of water striders identified.
These man-made materials have unique qualities that make them extremely useful.
… ” Read more from NASA here: Understanding Earth’s climate Maven’s XKCD Comic Pick of the Week … Sign up for daily email service and you’ll never miss a post!
About Science News and Reports: This weekly feature, posted every Thursday, is a collection of the latest scientific research and reports with a focus on relevant issues to the Delta and to California water, although other issues such as climate change are sometimes included.

Last month, the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) — the body that decides the formula of water sharing between the four provinces — projected a 35 per cent water shortage for Kharif season.
This season starts from April 1 every year and the demand for water rises for sowing of crops like cotton and rice.
In case of water shortage, the most affected provinces are Punjab and Sindh that are more dependent on Indus water than KP and Balochistan.
Prior to the announcement, Sindh had raised the issue of reduced water availability in Kharif season.
“Water is most useful when it is actually needed and the focus must be on ensuring its supply at that moment.” Khan says a similar situation arises every year between March 20 and April 10 when there is limited rainfall and weather is not hot enough to melt the glaciers.
Sindh, he says, feels more stressed because the crops there mature almost a month earlier than in Punjab because of its much hotter weather.
For the same reason, he says, the crops in Sindh are sowed earlier and therefore it needs more water than Punjab around this time.
“The existing varieties of Bt cotton cannot afford stress, caused by the scarcity of water during the start of the cropping cycle.
He says if there is no consensus on building of large dams, several small reservoirs can be made by different provinces according to their own water demands.
“The provinces with higher demand can have more reservoirs than those with lesser demand.” He laments the research budget for agriculture sector remains unused.

San Diego water resilience project wins top global civil engineering award.
For the San Vicente Dam Raise, a project that more than doubled the storage capacity of the San Vicente Reservoir, Black & Veatch provided construction project management services as part of a joint venture team with Parsons.
The project provides water system resilience and reliability to the San Diego region if imported water deliveries are interrupted due to events such as prolonged drought or damaging earthquake.
San Diego County imports more than 80 percent of its water from Northern California and the Colorado River.
"The high-level operation of the E&CSP is vital in maintaining resilient and reliable imported water supplies for the San Diego region," said Kevin Davis, Black & Veatch Associate Vice President and Project Director for the company’s involvement on the E&CSP.
For the San Vicente Dam Raise, a project that more than doubled the storage capacity of the San Vicente Reservoir, Black & Veatch provided construction project management services as part of a joint venture team with Parsons.
Black & Veatch also designed the San Vicente Pump Station project, completed in 2010 as part of the E&CSP.
This award-winning project facilitates reversal of flow that connects and moves water from the San Vicente Reservoir to SDCWA’s Second Aqueduct and to water agencies in the central and northern areas of the county.
Learn more at www.bv.com and on social media.
Water Authority, City of San Diego measuring interest in potential renewable energy-supporting pumped storage project San Diego County Water Authority wins Sustainable Water Utility Management award

BLOG ROUND-UP: Bloggers on the snow survey, Delta tunnels polling, DWR dams and spillway repairs, San Joaquin River restoration, flood improvements, and more ….
Water, water everywhere but not a drop to waste: Anna Wearn writes, “The results are in: California’s snowpack is 164% of average, according to the latest Sierra Nevada snow survey.
… ” Read more from the NRDC Switchboard blog here: Water, water everywhere but not a drop to waste Public Policy Institute of California: 77% of Californians Think Governor’s California WaterFix is Important to the State’s Future: Californians for Water Security write: “This week, the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) published a poll which highlights that 77 percent of Californians view Governor Jerry Brown’s California WaterFix as “important.” In fact, 51 percent think it is “very important.” The poll, which appeared in the report “Californians & Their Government,” also specifies that the majority of California residents in favor of water infrastructure improvements, in the aftermath of winter storms, flooding and the crisis at Oroville Dam.
According to the latest PPIC statewide survey, 61% of Californians say that more spending on water and flood management infrastructure is very important for their part of California.
The Yuba County Water Agency played a key role in helping manage the Oroville Dam spillway challenges earlier this year by coordinating its releases on the Yuba River with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR).
… ” Read more from the Water Wired blog here: Another groundwater case for SCOTUS?
Rodney Smith writes, “Hydrowonk gratefully received an invitation to attend the Salton Sea Tour sponsored by the Water Education Foundation on March 16th, the day the Natural Resources Agency released a 10-Year Plan for habitat and dust suppression projects in the Salton Sea.
Given that none of them has ever shown enthusiasm for state environmental protection, it’s possible whether their rule concern is federalism or deregulation.
It’s difficult, however, to see a case for a wholesale abrogation of federal authority in favor of the states.
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The Vice-Chancellor, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Musbau Akanji, says the ongoing dam construction in the university will end perennial water scarcity being experienced by students and staff. In a statement signed by Mrs Lydia Legbu, the university’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) in Minna on Friday, Akanji appealed to the host communities to support the projects so that it can completed in time. The Vice-Chancellor was quoted to have made the appeal during a stakeholders meeting with the 10 villages in and around the…

BLOG ROUND-UP: Bloggers on the National Geographic film, post-drought groundwater, State Water Board flow mandates, Delta Tunnels, San Luis Dam, Sites Reservoir, and more ….
… ” Read more from the Voices on Water blog here: National Geography documentary distorts California’s water history New film shows that clean water is not a guarantee for many in California: Ana Lucia Garcia Briones writes, “National Geographic’s new film, “Water & Power: A California Heist,” explores the impacts of California’s drought and the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater crisis, and highlights issues surrounding the state’s water rights and the powerful interests that sometimes control them.
… ” Read more at the Daily Kos here: Federal scientists find Delta tunnels plan will devastate salmon Full San Luis Dam endangers 200,000 people: Diedre Des Jardins writes, “San Luis Dam, also known as B.F. Sisk Dam, is 382 feet tall and 18,600 feet long, and impounds up to 2 million acre-feet of water.
… ” Continue reading at the California Water Research blog here: Risk study: $21.8 billion in property in Oroville inundation path Saving water for the future: California needs Sites Reservoir: The Northern California Water Association writes, “With the Sacramento Valley in flood stage early this year, the California Department of Water Resources has estimated that by mid-February Sites Reservoir could have stored over 1 million acre-feet of water (over 325 billion gallons) this water year.
The huge caveat: Note those weasel words … ” Continue reading at the Inkstain blog here: A big boost this year for Lake Mead See also, Don’t let the dry March overshadow the good news for Lake Mead How should one measure the Endangered Species Act’s success?
Damien M. Shiff writes, “Property rights and other groups that seek reform of the Endangered Species Act oftentimes note that only a tiny fraction of the species that have been listed under the Act have recovered.
Hence, the Act may very well be “working” but we haven’t given it enough time to show its stuff.
This post examines President Trump’s budget with respect to water programs.
After reading all the opinions I could find, I’d say the best news is this: He doesn’t seem to have any particular agenda in the area.
… ” Read more at the Legal Planet here: Gorsuch and the environment: A closer look Sign up for daily email service and you’ll never miss a post!

Build more water storage.
The winter’s welcome wet spell has brought at least an unofficial end to California’s drought.
But has the rain washed away the most obvious lesson of the Golden State’s dry weather?
Quite possibly.
California was once a world leader on this front, building 10 massive reservoirs from 1927 to 1979.
Since then the Golden State has added 15 million residents while building no new reservoirs — and its leaders don’t even appear interested in trying.
Senate President Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, is crafting a bond measure that could go before voters in 2018 that in its latest iteration calls for spending $1.5 billion on water projects — but nothing on dams.
State lawmakers are eager to joust with the governor over big new state bonds — but for transportation projects, not water projects.
“If the most straightforward definition of drought is the simple mismatch between the amounts of water nature provides and the amounts of water that humans and the environment demand, California is in a permanent drought,” Gleick wrote recently in Wired magazine.
This big picture should matter more to California’s leaders than it appears to — especially to a governor in legacy-hunting mode.