By Frank van Steenbergen
Postcard from Bulyoni Poyo, Southwest Tajikistan. While we have become used to harvest water, snow equally can be harvested too. This is what happens in Bulyoni Poyon, a village of 600 families, where winters are below freezing point for most of the days. A large number of the men in the village work as migrant worker in Russia and with the revenues sent home large tin roof family houses have been built. The snow melting from the roof is a main source of water. The water is collected in the gutter from where it is led to a house reservoir. Some houses have black-colored roofs to accelerate the melting of the snow.
There is no functioning water supply system in the village and when there is no snowmelt or rain, water is collected from a drinking water scheme at 10 kilometers distance and transported at USD 5 per cubic meter. Water is also collected from a nearby irrigation system, but as this water is slightly saline it is used for livestock only.
