This project’s goal was to develop a site suitability map for different types of surface rainwater harvesting systems for maximizing groundwater recharge and to develop a communication tool for promoting a roof-top rainwater harvesting system for the Karnali basin(KRB), Nepal. The project provided the techno-commercial information for groundwater recharge and the roof-top rainwater harvesting system to the people in a way they can access, understand and adopt. To prepare a site suitability map for surface rainwater harvesting structures, a variety of data related to runoff estimation such as satellite images for land use classes, digital elevation model (DEM), soil map and precipitation data were collected. A site suitability map for the different rainwater harvesting structures based on the meteorological and geospatial datasets as produced. An android based mobile application was developed to promote household rainwater structures. The application “Aakaashepani” uses technical and commercial information needed for installing household and community-based rainwater harvesting systems. Using this mobile application, people can estimate the optimal size of a rainwater harvesting tank for their houses, schools or community buildings in a few easy steps. The tool presents the results in a comprehensive way so people can use, understand and adopt it easily. The application is downloadable for free from the Google Play store. The research findings from the project were disseminated to the concerned stakeholders from local people in villages to policymakers at the provincial and national levels through a series of workshops and seminars. As a capacity-building part of the project, five young researchers were involved from the very beginning of the project and twenty graduate students were trained in groundwater research and management by organizing a short course.
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