Rain water can be harvested by individuals and house-holds, to farmers, industries and communities. The methods and use differ greatly. The current water storage capacities are not sufficient to allow people to compensate for hydrological changes. By optimising water availability, and more specifically, by making water available during times that it is needed the most, more flexibility is...

Climate change is affecting water supply in all parts of the world. Droughts are affecting agriculture and delivery of water for households and industries. Floods are damaging infrastructure and crops. Retaining water for later use will become more important to safeguard a reliable water supply, especially in cities where many users are located....

The FAO gives a concise overview of methods, costs, socio-economic effects of water harvesting, and the impact on users, the water shed and the global level.  It is a concise document, with a great amount of valuable information.

This document calls for a scaling up of good practices of water harvesting. It supports the call by sharing proven good practices in water harvesting from all over the world. These good practices can be adapted and used to design a strategy which fits specific local needs.  This is needed to increase the resilience of poor communities....

Despite being 9 years old, this booklet still provides  a valuable insight in methods for water harvesting. It categorises water harvesting in four groups, depending on the source of water: Rainwater or fog harvesting, surface water, groundwater and waste or greywater harvesting. It shows the most common methods, and provides local examples for each of the four sources  of water.