Foundation Projects
IoT Data-Driven Water Management for Climate Resilient Communities
Similie
This report outlines the partnership between Similie and PERMATIL, a local grassroots environmental organization, aimed to prove and build upon PERMATIL’s conservation efforts. Similie’s IoT and cloud-based technologies monitored and validated water availability, contributing to a nature-based solution and supporting the Government of Timor-Leste building climate resilience in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. Initial efforts included installing a weather station and a closed water supply monitoring network to gather monitor data on water availability over time. Data collected informed PERMATIL and the government entity, the Secretary of State of Electricity, Water and Sanitation (SEEAS), previously known as the Timor-Leste's National Authority for Water and Sanitation (ANAS), about PERMATIL's conservation efforts. This information aimed to support policy development related to WASH and climate change in Timor-Leste.
While the data collection efforts funded under the project were for one year, the project team planned for three years of data capture to provide the evidence to stakeholders of the impact of these conservation efforts. The project's cloud-based platform made this and other data immediately available to end-users, empowering farmers, youth, and community members to make water smart decisions regarding water usage and helping the government to remotely manage water resources to these underserved communities.
The final output of this project was a baseline assessment (the case study) of the integration of the technology and PERMATIL approach for nature-based solutions. This case study will inform a larger case study at the end of three years, which aims to influence water resource management policy in Timor-Leste, and to provide and evidence base for nature-based solutions across the region.
The project included deploying an All-Weather Stations (AWS) and water supply monitoring systems, training PERMATIL staff on Similie’s cloud-based platform, engaging communities in climate-resilient practices using Internet-based tools and developing a case study and pricing model for scaling up its approach.
Related:
