By Claude D. McKinney
Gulf Region North
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
“I don’t know where they got their water from before this well was here,” said Bill Hood the program engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region North, who manages water project contracts for the Corps. “There was no river or stream that I could see anywhere near the well sites I visited.”
Now, another source of water has been found and tapped in this area -- an underground aquifer. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has begun a well initiative that is due to be completed in mid-summer 2006. At its completion, the initiative will create 49 wells to service 37 Northern Iraqi communities. Each well project consists of a pump house that encloses a well head, a pump, a generator to run the pump, and a chlorinator with all of its associated instruments, pipes and gauges. Included in the project is a reservoir, a supply pipe to the village and, where needed, a tap-stand. The reservoir is a 500-800 gallon tank placed either on high ground or on stilts to provide the needed pressure at the tap. Most of these villages have never had flowing water available within their boundaries before, so they had no tap-stand. Where one was needed, a tap-stand consisting of a shut-off tap from the water pipe, a catch basin with a runoff drain and a stone decking surrounding the stand was built. The local citizens still need to carry the water from the tap-stand to their homes, but it is a big improvement over trucking water in, or having individuals carry water in containers in their cars for many miles to supply their needs. he wells, many as deep as 600 feet and some as shallow as 200 feet, tap directly into an aquifer of nearly pure water. It receives chlorination as an assurance to kill any bacteria which may invade the system. This can do nothing but improve the health of the Iraqi people.
“Of the various type of projects I manage, which includes water, medical facilities, police and other security buildings, and airport facilities, I think these water projects do about as much to “win the hearts and minds” of the local Iraqi than anything else we can do,” said Sheryl Leeper the area engineer who manages the contractors and monitors quality assurance at the work sites. “Their quality of life is improved dramatically; almost instantly. We can complete one of these well projects within several months,” she said.
Whether it be a large water project like the treatment plant being built in Ifraz, which will provide water to 600,000 people in Erbil 31 kilometers away, or these wells which supply water to villages of 500 to 1,000 people each -- providing water is a most important task to building a workable infrastructure for Iraq.
Lyrics:
I speak peace when peace is spoken, But I speak war when your hate is provoking, The season is open 24-7-365, Man up yo time to ride, No need to hide behind slogans of deceit, Claiming that you're a religion of peace, We just don't believe you, We can clearly see through, The madness that you're feeding your people, Jihad the cry of your unholy war, Using the willing, the weak and poor, From birth drowning in propaganda, rhetoric and slander, All we can say is damn ya
My forefathers fought and died for this here
I'm stronger than your war of fear
Are we clear?
If you step in my hood
It's understood
It's open season
I don't need a faith that's blind, Where death and hate bring me peace of mind, With views that are stuck deep in the seventh century, So much sand in your eyes to blind to see, The venom that you leaders preach, Is the path to your own destruction, Your own demise, You might say that I don't understand but your disgust for me is what I realize, Surprise! Your homicidal ways has got the whole world watching, Whole world scoping, So if you bring it to my home base, Best believe it, The season's open
I see you, Hell yeah I see you, Motherfucker naw, I don't wanna be you, If you come to my place, I'll drop more than just some bass, Yo you'll get a taste of a, Sick motherfucker from the Dirty, I ain't worrying not a fucking bit, I'm telescoping like Hubble, Yo you in trouble, Yo on the double, I'm wild with mine, Bring that style with mine, Fuck with my family I'll end your line, Just the way it is, Just the way it be, Do you understand? No matter if you're woman or man, or child, My profile is crazy, That shit you do doesn't amaze me, I'm ready to blaze thee
I don't give a damn what god you claim, I've seen the innocent that you've slain, On my streets you're just fair game, Like a pig walk to your slaughter, The heat here is so much hotter, And my views won't teeter totter or fluctuate, Step to me you just met your fate, And I'll annihilate, With the skill of a Shogun assassin, Slicing and dicing precise with a passion, In any shape form or fashion, Bring it to my home, Welcome to the danger zone, Cause your attitude's the reason, The triggers keep squeezing, The hunt is on and it's open season
It's Open Season