The collapsed and broken skeletons of washed-out dams were clearly visible under the rushing waters of the Ghorband River in Parwan’s Charikar district. Heaps of stone and sandbags were no match for the powerful spring floods that carry boulders the size of small cars. For years, the task of building and maintaining the dams, as well as clearing the canals of debris, was the responsibility of area farmers. They performed this work on an irregular, ad hoc basis under extreme conditions with local conflict concerning water rights. Farmers would often leave their land for weeks at a time to band together to build the new dams or clean the canals.

In all, the structures feed nearly 30,000 hectares of land and 74 kilometers of canals through four intakes. USAID partners also met continuously with the local community to improve the water management system.

The villagers built the protection walls, intakes, and dams with over 1,000 bags of cement, and implemented invaluable new practices — such as mixing cement during the winter — which they learned from USAID’s implementing partner