|
Our two partners for our work in El Salvador - Mangle Association (based in El Salvador) and EcoViva (Oakland, CA) - have begun a new school garden initiative. The Association trains teachers and help with the planting, implementation, and monitoring of 10 school gardens across the Bajo Lempa region, the poorest region in El Salvador. Because schools and community centers are often located on the same piece of property, these gardens, which include fruit trees, would also be available in the evenings for community residents. These gardens get well-watered in the rainy season, but suffer from dry spells and low productivity during the dry season (December - May).
Our proposal is to provide a sustainable source of water for irrigation of these crops and trees during the dry season months. Each solar pump irrigation system will include a completed well to depth, solar panels, a submersible solar-powered pump, and an elevated storage tank for gravity-flow irrigation. A demonstration system has already been put in place by a student service organization, in the Fall of 2013. Photos of this system are in the photo page of this grant application.
A cost breakout of this system is given below:
Well - drilling and 4-inch casing to completion $300
Solar submersible pump
(Advanced Solar, USA) $800
Solar panels, 2 x 100-watt
(DelSol, El Salvador) $452
Plastic tank (1000 liters) $350
Supplies, PVC pipe and fittings $80
TOTAL PER SYSTEM: ~$2000
This proposal is to ask funding for system materials and supplies to provide irrigation water for 10 schools at $10,000. The platform or tower would be provided by the community before installation, and the labor for system installation would be provided by local residents in cooperation with college student delegations from the U.S. Funds for the project will be managed in the U.S. by the University of Oklahoma (OU) Foundation, and disbursements in El Salvador will be managed by EcoViva. In-country Rotary Club support will be provided as needed by the Sirama San Miguel Rotary Club that has successfully managed two previous water grants funded by Rotary International in the Bajo Lempa region. U.S. leadership and support will be provided by Jim F. Chamberlain, PhD, P.E., research engineer with the OU WaTER Center (University of Oklahoma)
| 
