A little Water, A Lot of Hope

Is "Throwback Thursday" even a thing any more?

If it is...... here is one of the coolest missions / projects I got to be part of, while in Afghanistan 12-years ago!

My predecessor, did it right, helping to employ the locals, with cooperation from the National Army, and a low cost.

He was able to bring a little water and a lot of hope to this village.

The next day, we received a frantic call about the dam, believing it had been attacked....

Instead, upon arrival, we found the catchment area behind the wall, miraculously full to the brim.
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2007 April 4
Z------- Dam Blessing and Lunch
War Diary
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Today we closed out the crown jewel of Major Sean Gustafson deployment.
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The Z-------- Dam is a gold standard, of how we should be doing operations. It was completed through the cooperation of the local village and the Engineers of the 207th Kandak, of the Afghan National Army.
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The Afghan Army units brought the earth moving equipment, and the local villagers provided the manpower, and collected wages for their labor.
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The hope, is that this "Catch Dam" will hold the water that floods down this Wadi, after heavy storms in the mountains. Typically, the water, rushes out onto the desert floor, where it just sinks into the underground rivers or evaporates. By holding it back, we will force it into the ground, above the village, effectively recharging their wells and Kariz systems.
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There had previously been hundreds of these types of dams at the mouths of the wadis, leading out of the mountains; until the Russians destroyed them during their occupation, in an effort to beat the populace into submission. The loss of water, turned this land from the 'Bread Basket of Asia' to the dusty, barren land that it is today; but these warriors never submitted to the Russians.
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