water users association

Article

Raising Voices to Save Water: Reducing Groundwater Loss in Armenia’s Ararat Valley

The Ararat Valley is a 1,300-kilometer swath of fertile land in western Armenia that lies in the shadow of Mount Ararat. The valley is known as the breadbasket of the country. “It feeds about half the population,” says Armen Varosyan, project director of USAID’s Participatory Utilization and Resource Efficiency of Water (PURE Water) project. He explains that a clean and accessible groundwater reservoir fuels the region’s productivity. But, Varosyan says, “There is a problem.” Armenia’s natural groundwater is drying up.

Blog

Citizen Journalists: Shining a Light on Water Management in Armenia

Mane Minasyan lives in Vedi, a small town in the heart of the Ararat Valley in the west of Armenia. At 19, she is raising awareness of groundwater depletion and prompting behavior change in her community. Mane received her investigative journalism training from USAID’s Participatory Utilization and Resources Efficiency of Water (PURE Water) project, which is working to increase water productivity, efficiency, and quality in the Ararat Valley by enhancing citizen participation in water resources management.

Activity

African Water Association Institutional Capacity Building Program

On December 2, 2015, the African Water Association (AfWA) entered into partnership with USAID West Africa by signing the Cooperative Agreement No AID-624-A-1600003. Under this agreement, USAID/West Africa‘s Regional Program commits to invest a sum of $2,000,000 to support the WASH – AfWA Regional Institutional Capacity Building Program (AfriCap).

Activity

Transboundary Water for Biodiversity and Human Health in the Mara River Basin

The TWB-MRB project was a collaborative effort between Florida International University (FIU), WWF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Programme Office (WWF-ESARPO), World Vision International, CARE Tanzania, and the Mara River Water Resource Users Association (MRWUA) to support numerous governmental and local partners in the development and implementation of a basin-scale integrated water resources management plan in the trans-boundary Mara River Basin of Kenya and Tanzania. The project began in October of 2005 and extended through September of 2012.