Scaling sand dams in Southern Africa: policy guidance for optimizing rollout within an integrated water storage framework

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cg.contributor.affiliationInternational Water Management Institute
cg.contributor.donorCGIAR Trust Fund
cg.contributor.programAcceleratorPolicy Innovations
cg.coverage.countryZimbabwe
cg.coverage.iso3166-alpha2ZW
cg.coverage.regionSouthern Africa
cg.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.5337/2025.241
cg.identifier.iwmilibraryH054196
cg.number45
cg.placeColombo, Sri Lanka
dc.contributor.authorInternational Water Management Institute
dc.date.accessioned2025-11-17T10:12:55Z
dc.date.available2025-11-17T10:12:55Z
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10568/177960
dc.titleScaling sand dams in Southern Africa: policy guidance for optimizing rollout within an integrated water storage frameworken
dcterms.abstractSouthern Africa’s dryland regions face growing water insecurity due to recurrent droughts, erratic rainfall, and delayed wet seasons. Sand dams—small structures that capture and store water within sand-filled riverbeds—offer a reliable, low-maintenance source of water for domestic and productive uses in these semi-arid landscapes. Drawing on new field evidence and modelling from Zimbabwe’s Shashe catchment, this policy brief assesses sand dam performance, benefits, and enabling conditions to inform their strategic scaling. Findings show that properly sited, designed, and managed sand dams can substantially improve local water access, particularly during the early dry season, thereby enhancing community resilience to climate variability. However, their storage potential is modest at the catchment scale and must be viewed within a broader framework of integrated water storage and conjunctive use. Embedding these lessons into policy and investment planning will help governments and their partners expand sand dams strategically, maximizing their contribution to water security and climate resilience across Southern Africa.en
dcterms.accessRightsOpen Access
dcterms.bibliographicCitationInternational Water Management Institute (IWMI). 2025. Scaling sand dams in Southern Africa: policy guidance for optimizing rollout within an integrated water storage framework. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 8p. (IWMI Water Policy Brief 45). doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2025.241
dcterms.extent8p.
dcterms.isPartOfIWMI Water Policy Brief
dcterms.issued2025-11-17
dcterms.languageen
dcterms.licenseCC-BY-4.0
dcterms.publisherInternational Water Management Institute
dcterms.subjectdams
dcterms.subjectwater storage
dcterms.subjectframeworks
dcterms.subjectpolicies
dcterms.subjectwater security
dcterms.subjectclimate change adaptation
dcterms.subjectcatchment areas
dcterms.subjectsite factors
dcterms.subjectwater use
dcterms.subjectconjunctive use
dcterms.subjectrural communities
dcterms.subjectsocial-ecological resilience
dcterms.subjectsemi-arid zones
dcterms.typeBrief

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