The goal is to direct water away from its normal path of flow (down the steepest land gradient, into streams and eventually to the ocean) to planted areas and storage facilities where it can be used for agricultural purposes. This will both reduce erosion and greatly increase the water available for productive purposes. The design is based partly on the work of P.A. and Ken Yeomans.

The project site in Bolivia is a sort of “prototype” design to determine what is possible and how to apply this kind of design to a plot of degraded land. In the process, the goal is to develop a “toolkit” for other farms and agricultural extension agents to use this method.

Project Background: The site is located in the community of Tipa Tipa, in the Tipajara watershed between the larger towns of Mizque and Aiquile.

The environmental crisis in this sector, and in the Bolivian valleys and highlands, is manifold:

• Massive soil erosion, deforestation, and land degradation

• Economic collapse and subsequent migration due to poor farm systems management

• Extreme scarcity of water and arable land

This project is an attempt to develop the tools and knowledge, in an Open Source fashion, to confront these challenges.