Madomguia Diane, Nya Esther Laurentine, Njomou-Ngounou Emma Laureane, Gatcha-Bandjun Nadège, Mwamila Tulinave Burton, Balna Jules, Halimassia Emina, Metsebo Jules, Letah Nzouebet Wilfried Arsène, Tchoumbe Raoul Rodrigue, Bon André Firmin, Gwenzi Willis, Noubactep Chicgoua
Department of Hydraulics and Water Management, National Advanced School of Engineering, University of Maroua, P.O. Box 58, Maroua, Cameroon.
Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences University of Bertoua, P.O. Box: 416, Bertoua, Cameroon.
Heliyon. 2025 Jan 3;11(1):e41692. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e41692. eCollection 2025 Jan 15.
This article evaluates the prospects for rainwater harvesting (RWH) as a means of optimizing water management in the Mandara Mountains. RWH is a small-scale water conservation approach for locally intercepting and storing rainfall before it enters the usual hydrologic cycle. This ancient practice has recently sustained lives in semiarid areas of the world (e.g. Brazil, China), but is not yet really used in the Mandara Mountains of Cameroon where people are still lacking safe drinking water. Recently, RWH was also demonstrated as the missing puzzle in integrated water resources management (IWRM) not only in areas facing water scarcity. The present article aims to prepare large scale RWH in the Mandara Mountains. Water harvesting yields are estimated for residential roofs, administrative and confessional buildings, and agricultural areas (e.g. farm scale). The results show that RWH is an affordable, applicable, and attractive tool for both rural and urban communities to sustainably solve the long-lasting problem of lack of safe drinking water in the Mandara Mountains. Moreover, despite the short rainy season, RWH may provide enough irrigation water to mitigate dry spells and increase agricultural and livestock productivity. This study is regarded as a blueprint for planning sustainable water management in the Mandara Mountains.
本文评估了雨水收集（RWH）作为优化曼达拉山区水资源管理手段的前景。雨水收集是一种小规模的水资源保护方法，用于在降雨进入常规水文循环之前进行局部截留和储存。这种古老的做法最近在世界半干旱地区（如巴西、中国）拯救了生命，但在喀麦隆的曼达拉山区尚未真正得到应用，那里的人们仍然缺乏安全饮用水。最近，雨水收集不仅在面临水资源短缺的地区，还被证明是综合水资源管理（IWRM）中缺失的一环。本文旨在为曼达拉山区大规模开展雨水收集做准备。对住宅屋顶、行政和宗教建筑以及农业区域（如农场规模）的集水量进行了估算。结果表明，雨水收集对于农村和城市社区来说，都是一种经济实惠、切实可行且颇具吸引力的工具，能够可持续地解决曼达拉山区长期存在的安全饮用水短缺问题。此外，尽管雨季短暂，但雨水收集仍可为缓解干旱期提供足够的灌溉用水，并提高农业和畜牧业的生产力。本研究被视为曼达拉山区规划可持续水资源管理的蓝图。
