An assessment of Compone’s irrigation network in August 2010 found evidence of losses greater than 200,000 liters per day through the soils from which the irrigation channels were constructed. Additional losses occurred through the inefficient breakout system, which involved removing and replacing dirt to control the flow of water from the main channel. The project team designed a solution to better conserve the community’s water by improving the efficiency of the irrigation network. The proposed solution involved a soil-cement channel lining and improved breakout gates.
In June 2011, an implementation team from UMCP traveled to Compone to help the community construct the designed improvements for a 30-meter portion of the 1.3km irrigation channel. The community is continuing construction on the remainder of the channel. It is hoped that the skills developed during the implementation trip will be used by the residents of Compone to increase the efficiency of all of their irrigation canals, and to demonstrate the methods to neighboring communities.