Global dataset of sand dam features and geographical distribution across drylands
Sand dams are water infrastructure, built across ephemeral sandy rivers, that increase water supply by creating an artificial sandy aquifer upstream of the dam. Despite their effectiveness and recent traction in the research and development arena, empirical data on their distribution and characteristics are scattered and largely unreported. This gap represents a major barrier for understanding the large-scale potential of such a Nature-based Solution and for planning new installations. This paper presents a global dataset of sand dam locations and dimensions, developed collaboratively by research and development experts. We collected sand dam information from several sources, including local sand dam organizations. The data was reviewed and integrated through visual inspection in Google Earth. Although most georeferenced sand dams are from Eastern and Southern Africa, this dataset is a first global inventory and represents an invitation for others working in sand dams around the world to contribute their data. The dataset supports research on the effectiveness of sand dams and can aid practitioners with science-based criteria for sand dam development.
Authors
- Hannah Ritchie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6922-3905)
- Doug Graber Neufeld
- Cate Ryan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8999-9459)
- Bongani Mpofu
- Lorenzo Villani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4241-7619)
- Luigi Piemontese (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1600-5450)
- Jessica Eisma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0837-9866)
- Elena Bresci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1988-1720)
- Ruth Quinn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9551-1350)
- Jeroen C. J. H. Aerts (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2162-5814)
- Giulio Castelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0209-0869)
- Natalia Limones
- Christine Whinney
Institutions
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Vrije Universiteit Brussel (BE)
- The University of Texas at Arlington (US)
- Eastern Mennonite University (US)
- Auckland University of Technology (NZ)
- Deltares (NL)
- Delta Institute for Theoretical Physics (NL)
- United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Switzerland (CH)
- AIR Worldwide (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Atlantic Technological University (IE)
- University of Florence (IT)
- Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
- Cranfield University (GB)
- Institute of Technology Sligo (IE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Data
- Published
- 2025-12-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06197-w
- Primary Topic
- Groundwater and Watershed Analysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00