The Delivery Of Water For Agriculture And Aquaculture In El Convento

The Delivery of Water for Agriculture and Aquaculture in El Convento
A Collaboration between EEGLP and the Engineering Division

Rodolfo Silva
Advisor: Professor Joshua Smith

May 16, 2011

1.0 Background

Research into water delivery systems for agriculture and aquaculture in the small rural Honduran community of El Convento began in the Spring semester of 2011 as a collaborationbetween Lafayette’s Economic Empowerment & Global Learning Project and the college’s engineering division. EEGLP has been looking at six plots of land (“predios” in Spanish) in El Convento for the cultivation of various crops and for the development of fish ponds (“estanques de peces” in Spanish). A GPS map showing the perimeters of the plots except for those belonging to Lucio and Jaime is shown inFigure 1. Use of Matilde’s plot and Samuel’s southernmost plot (the one where cacao might be grown), are pending because of property rights issues. The remaining four plots of land cover an area of approximately 3.5 “manzanas”, a “manzana” being equivalent to 1.73 acres (Rowlett, 2001). The following research explores the selection of a water source, water quality standards, the water demands of thedifferent economic activities, the design of water delivery systems for agriculture and aquaculture, and the associated costs.

Figure 1. Plots at El Convento (GPS map from EWB Lafayette Chapter)
Table 1. Size and potential economic activities for the plots in El Convento (per EEGLP members Richard Durham ’11 and Brent Hoagland ‘12)
Owner | Matilde | Yamil | Samuel | Lucio | Jaime | Samuel |Size (manzanas) | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 (or a little less) | 1.25 | 0.75 | 1 |
Potential activities | Pineapple, plantain | Fish pond, vegetable garden | Plantain, beekeeping | Fish pond, vegetable garden | Pineapple, cacao | Cacao, vegetable garden |

The potential activities listed in Table 1 are tentative and subject to change. The cacao project is currently a priority because it appears to havegreat income-generating potential and because of the imminent possibility of the community of El Convento signing a contract with the Honduran cacao company Xoco.

2.0 Data Collected/Research Results

2.1 Options for water source

There are several water sources in and near the community: a creek, mountain springs and local springs called “pozos.” In addition, the Lafayette Chapter ofEngineers Without Borders (EWB) is implementing a potable water system that could in theory be used to deliver water to the plots. This system uses the mountain springs as its water sources. There are three plots on the side of the river that could be irrigated using the potable water system. However, this might be uneconomical. In addition, it is not known if the potable water system has the capacityto provide for both drinking water and irrigation. Nevertheless, this option should not yet be discarded. The “pozos” have been discarded as water sources because their flow rates are very low (per 2007 EWB Assessment Trip Report).

The water source that seems to be the most practical for irrigation is the creek which runs along or near the plots. Juan Puerta, a junior engineering student,collected data for the creek during Spring Break of 2011 (March 14th to 18th) which found the flow rate to be 891 gallons per minute (see Appendix A). Coincidentally, the river’s lowest flow during the year occurs between March and April according to the villagers. This estimated flow rate is much larger than the 60 gallons per minute that a 6.5 hp pump would remove from the small river (Berry HillIrrigation, 2011). The pump would be removing less than 7% of the river’s flow. More research is needed to determine if this could have a negative environmental impact.

2.2 Water quality standards for irrigation and aquaculture

2.2.1 Background

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in its 1985 publication Water Quality for Agriculture, determined the chemical...