Over the past two decades a quiet revolution has been taking place in the countryside of China where hundreds of millions of people have been lifted out of poverty. This book focuses on some of the practical actions and clever use of appropriate technologies which have been at the heart of this positive grassroots-driven change in rural Gansu Province. Key to this has been mobilizing the population and their expeditious use of rainwater harvesting both to dramatically improve crop yields and provide households with reliable domestic water supplies. Challenges such as lack of fuelwood have been overcome by the development of simple low-cost solar cookers; the construction of low-cost greenhouses allows for the collection of rainwater and its use in efficient drip irrigation systems. The real significance of this case study is that most of the approaches described are based on universal principles of sustainable development.This book is recommended reading for engineers, planners, staff of NGOs, academics and students in the water, energy, and agriculture sectors.

Prelims (Preface, Acknowledgements)
Introduction
PART ONE: RAINWATER HARVESTING AND DOMESTIC RURAL WATER SUPPLY
1. Development of rainwater harvesting in rural Gansu
2. Upgraded Water Cellar Designs
3.Water quality and the development of solar cooker technology
PART TWO: RAINWATER HARVESTING AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE
4. Development and replication of low-cost greenhouse designs
5. Development of rainwater harvesting based irrigation systems in Gansu
6. Irrigation methods using rainwater
PART THREE: RAINWATER HARVESTING AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
7. Small watershed management
PART FOUR: CHALLENGES, FUTURE PROSPECTS, AND CONCLUSIONS
8. Challenges and prospects for rainwater harvesting in Gansu Province
Back Matter (Appendix 1, Appendix 2, Notes, References and sources of further information, Index)

Zhu Qiang
Zhu Qiang is Former Director and Chief Engineer and Research Professor of the Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy China.

Li Yuanhong
Mr Li Yuanhong is the current Director of the Gansu Research Institute for Water Conservancy, GRIWAC; he also coordinates the International Training Course on Rainwater Harvesting and Utilization which has been run in Gansu Province since 2003.

John Gould
John Gould is an expert in rainwater harvesting and author of Rainwater Catchment Systems for Domestic Supply.