Samoa Water For Life Newsletter - Issue # 11 Page 8 Photos from Page 3 --- BIOGAS Project Issue #11 : Jan - Mar 2011 It is a basic reality that Samoa’s capital city is built on meetings with the Authority to discuss aspects of the “It is great to see SOPAC taking tem provides an up-to-data cata- a floodplain, APIA central; contributing to this truth designs and plausible alternatives to unforeseen land the lead in the Pacific in the use logue and a centralized data re- Visit us on the Web are a network of rivers and streams within the town, acquisition setbacks. of open source software. There is pository, or library of information. Gasegase River (Vaimoso), Fugalei Stream, Mulivai a global movement towards using Stream (Togafuafua, Lalovaea) and Vaisigano River. Figure 4 shows the general outfall and flows of peak Mr. Singh said that apart from the OSS tools that enable the easy Mulivai flows within a 2 year-storm even. A series of financial benefits, OSS provides A design was conducted under the Ministry of Works constrictions within the Mulivai Stream channel allows sharing of data and applications transparency. “ICT systems and Infrastructure 2008, by the Bluebird Ah LAL, Sa- for this bottle-neck effect causing breaching of river to the mutual benefit of the larger based on OSS are freely avail- moa and Woods & Partners. The team consisted of banks thus flowing to the neighboring low-land areas community. Our research shows able and can be modified easily to Hydrologists, GIS Specialists, Surveyors and Engi- such as Fugalei and Togafuafua. that there were the enormous pay suit very specific requirements. -offs for both developed and de- An organization using OSS has veloping countries in using open more control over the privacy and source platforms for disaster risk security aspects, compared to management.” closed-source “black box” solu- Mr. Singh said that SOPAC’s up- tions. neers to fully map out the sources of these floods, By deepening the stream at relative depths outlined graded online platform not only “OSS is a community effort, draw out plausible solutions and lastly, construct within the design can mitigate these flooding within makes the Division’s work more For further comments, where people are encouraged to within the budget frame. the CBD as shown on Figure 5. visible to the member countries Frances B Reupena contribute their skills and time to Sector Coordinator and the general public, but “...will Level 5, DBS Building Now with the establishment of the Land Transport Ponding levels are found to be within 100-200mm provide improvements and sup- Email: [email protected] also prove endlessly useful to Phone: 23800 ext 291 Authority, the Ministry saw fit to implement the re- within certain areas of the stream relatively close to port, which they do freely. maining works of this project with the LTA. Mulivai the constricting areas causing major breaches (back SOPAC staff in their day-to-day Papalii Mataia M Mataia Deputy Sector Coordinator Stream was found to be one of the major contributors of Chan Mow Wholesale etc). work. It is easier to share data “OSS systems are the driving Level 5, DBS Building Email: [email protected] to the flooding within Savalalo (Ah Chong Building, Simple a friendly reminder as a conclusion, please and duplication of effort can be force in connecting people and Phone: 23800 ext 292 Lucky Foodtown), Fugalei (Market) and other remote stop littering in our streams, you will not only help cre- processes globally in real time avoided. Peni Allen Performance Monitoring & Public Relations Officer parts of the eastern end of CBD (Marist Brothers, ate clear and uncluttered drain paths for our country, and giving smaller countries in the Level 5, DBS Building “In the past, specialists within Email: [email protected] Australian High Commission, JICA). create healthy and safe surroundings but most impor- Pacific region equal footing in in- Phone: 23800 ext 275 SOPAC have utilized a diverse tantly we will be building a sustainable environment formation technology. Ultimately, Readers & Stakeholders involved in LTA contracted the remaining works with Bluebird Ah for our future generations. set of tools to create, manage, I believe, OSS is a more much LAL and Woods & Partners to fully design the hy- analyze and display geospatial the Water & Sanitation Sector can beneficial and sustainable ap- draulics of deepening the Mulivai Stream, October data on digital maps that have contribute to our newsletter via: proach to ICT development in the 2010. The team of specialists will derive a series of been acquired from a variety of region” concluded Mr. Singh. [email protected] detailed designs for earthworks methods, sediment different sources.” The new sys- control, tideflex valve designs and drainage levels. Consolidatingthe“WaterforLife”InitiativesConsolidatingthe“WaterforLife”Initiatives In January to March 2011, Bluebird Ah LAL and Woods & Partners have hosted several progress Figure 4: Existing Flooding Depth and Velocity Peak Mulivai Flows Figure 5: Flooding Depths and flows for Mulivai Deepening Works Samoa Water For Life Newsletter - Issue # 11 Page 2 Page 7 KEWConsultAwarded :“DetailDesign&SupervisionAssistance” A related issue in many Pacific Island Countries for6VillageSchemes and Territories is that Global Positioning Systems (GPS) equipment is not recognized as legal sur- The Independent Water Scheme Water Supply 2nd Round of schemes to be upgraded in July veying equipment,”...despite the accuracy that sat- Sub-sector have completed its 1st Tender on Detail 2011 are: ellite technology makes available. Consequently, Design and Supervision Assistance for the below 1. Solosolo surveys have to be carried out in traditional ways, six (6) schemes with KEW Consult LTD as the win- 2. Falevao supported by the analysis of aerial photography,” ning Contractor. The Evaluation Committee mem- 3. Lalomauga explained Dr. Forstreuter. bers composed representatives from WSCU, MOF, 4. Sataoa SWA, MOH, IWSA and MWCSD. This contract 5. Lotofaga Safata Traditionally, Lands Departments have been the “Scientists from round the Pacific now have easier was signed on Monday 28th March, 2011 and work 6. Falelatai plus Patamea & Matautu Avao only source of mapping in a country, used by our access to the Geographical Information stored at is underway for the Ministry and IWSA to assist schemes to complete minor additional work to be government departments such as Forestry, or util- KEW Consult team on site visits to six (6) schemes on their water systems. Engineers will supervise Applied Geoscience and Technology Division ity organizations such as electricity companies. on preparation of detailed schemes. upgrade works of the two schemes and the water (SOPAC). Secretariat of the Pacific Community,” committee will be responsible with most of the up- Dr. Forstreuter said that since the year 2000, said Mr. Sachindra Singh, Systems Developer, 2nd Tender is currently been advertised on “Supply grade work. space borne image data, or satellite imagery, has SOPAC Information Communication Technology and Delivery of Pipes & Fittings” for upgrade work been available for mapping at a scale of 1:10,000, Department (ICT). in July 2011. The deadline submission of tenders and that GIS and image software have become so “Since August last year, the ICT Department has is Monday 18th April, 2011 @ 1pm and our aim is user friendly that it is not necessary to have a to try and get the materials on time before up- worked to unify the catalogue SOPAC’s diverse background in surveying to use these. grades work set to start in July 2011. geographical data collection under a standardized, Satellite sensors work in way similar to a photo- secure and user-friendly system.” Completed Technical Evaluation on EIB tender for copier, so that the image is not distorted. The user Mr. Singh explained that this undertaking solely “preparation of Conceptual and Detailed Designs” map on the computer screen immediately using utilized Open Source Software (OSS) geospatial and the report is now with the Tenders Board for satellite information and images. systems , which enabled the Division to cost- approval before evaluation continues on the finan- Visit @ Solosolo Scheme cial bids. The European Investment Bank has pro- In the past there has been the tendency for donor effectively develop the online solution in a rela- vided a fund of $€250,000.00 to assist IWSA/IWS assistance to countries Lands Departments to rein- tively short amount of time. on upgrade designs as well as capacity building force old technology rather than establish facilities Regional governments are actively seeking activities for its water committee members. This for the analysis of space borne image data. SOPAC’s assistance with the installation and train- contract is set to start before the end of April 2011. Therefore other departments and organizations ing in OSS geospatial systems, which was initially Memorandum of Understanding will be signed have created their own faster and more efficient funded through the Islands Information Systems amongst the Ministry, the Contractors and the six mapping facilities, using the new technologies. Development Project (EDF8), because, Mr. Singh (6) water committees to ensure all parties agree to To ensure that all surveys carried out using GIS said, OSS systems have very low total cost of conditions and roles to play during the implementa- software, image analysis software dna GPS re- ownership and will provide