3rd International Rainwater Cistern Systems Conference
Khon Kaen, Thailand - January, 1987

Section C: Design

Paper C.11

The Terrace-Cistern System: A Call for Experimentation

Ulpio Nascimento
LNEC Seniour Research Officer
Consultant Engineer
Lisboa
Portugal

The paper recalls that the terrace-cistern system described in earlier works (Nascimento, 1982) is the association of two very old techniques: land cultivation in terrace and cistern storage of rainwater caught from terraces.

Potential advantages to be taken of the system are also recalled: best use of water, protection against erosion, struggle against desertification, flood control, etc.

An analysis is made of the mechanism of water drainage above the groundwater level, and new advances are reported that provide for better adaptation of the system to the existing ground: catchment with geotextiles, and possibly cisterns outside terraces.

The development of the system calls for experimentation in different conditions of climate and terrain, from which construction specifications and operation outputs could be derived.

There is the description of a first experiment though on very limited scale, and the need for other experiments in different regions is emphasized.

PDF of full document available to members (12pp, 360kb)