Though the coastal cities of Senegal are situated on the fierce Atlantic Ocean, it is floods from heavy rains they struggle with, rather than rising tides. One innovative project is trying to capture the water instead, for use in gardening during water-short periods of the year.

In Pikine, a suburb of Senegal’s capital Dakar, the “Live with Water” project captures floodwater in large sandy basins, around which cash crop gardens of mint and basil provide an income for local residents. Using the basins, floods have been converted into a new stock of fresh water.

“his project opened our eyes to see there is a solution,” said Emilie Faye, a local leader who has been instrumental in the project.

The basins, a burgeoning ecosystem of their own, are now populated with medicinal plants, fish and herons.

The market now benefits from a drainage system built into the street, which funnels rainwater into the basins. The benefits come directly to women, many have received training in organic gardening. Faye said the project has already helped her and her family. She and her daughter, Esperance, are both growers in the cash crop gardens around the basin. The $22 earned per month by each grower often goes on school fees and medical supplies.