Michael Pilarski – Feb. 2, 2020

I first learned about sand dams from Bill Mollison in 1986 at his first Drylands Permaculture Design Course. It is gratifying to see it catching on in a bigger way in Africa in the 2000s.  These sand dams are a good strategy in seasonally dry areas of the planet where there is seasonal runoff and erosion.  Not only are there wells in the sand for drinking and irrigation, the expanses of built-up sand (once stabilized) can be planting areas for tree crops.  Water courses can have whole series of sand dams.  Here are some videos on the topic.   While there is some self-serving propaganda with the videos, they do show a useful technique that works.

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Sand dams in Tete province, Mozambique

5:04. 5,613 views. Nov 28, 2014

Mozambique Sand Dams and Gardens 2015

6:24. 8,381 views. Jul 23, 2015.

Kitui Sand Dams

14:32. 14,559 views. Dec 1, 2011. This video reports on 450 sand dams near Nairobi Kenya that serve about 100,000 people.

Sand Dams, retaining rainwater in Kenya

7:17. 7,107 views. Jun 16, 2016. This video also talks about roofwater catchment and rock catchments.

Dancing on Water: Sand Dams in Kenya

7:03. 27,599 views. Sep 6, 2011.