Aceh emergency support for irrigation – building back better

The earthquake of 26 December 2004 off the west coast of Sumatra and the resulting tsunami killed 300 000 people and destroyed farmland and irrigation systems. A further earthquake on 28 March 2005 killed 1000 people and damaged structural works on Nias island. This paper describes post-tsunami and -earthquake reconstruction of irrigation systems in Aceh province and Nias, where most of the damage occurred. Design engineers followed the Indonesian government's policy of ‘building back better’ by incorporating earthquake-resistant design in the higher-risk areas. The participatory planning, design and construction approaches are described as well as several innovations in earthquake-resistant design for canals, weirs and other irrigation structures.