PROJECT SUMMARY

Project Summary
Youssef El Hamzaoui, Elizabeth Kim, Andres Mercado, Thomas Polasek
Energy Institute High School
Mrs. Gianukos
September 26, 2016

PROJECT SUMMARY

In this project, our group is proposing to resettle refugees from Somalia at the Sam
Houston National Forest. Most of these refugees are fleeing from their country because of the
bloody civil war between rival warlords, famine, and one of the worst droughts that they
encountered in sixty years. When deciding to settle in the Sam Houston National Forest, our
group had to consider the availably of water, the amount of space, and the cultural,
environmental, and political impacts on the forest. After carefully considering these factors, we
decided to relocate the refugees in Sam Houston National Forest.
As a result, the forest provides a vast amount space for the refugees without causing
major environmental impacts. Our justifications for this location are because of the ample supply
of water and the reservations for camping. We used Google Earth to scout the forest of all the
water sources nearby and concluded that the water supply could support an immense amount of
people. Based on our calculations, the forest can hold over one million refugees at sixteen square
feet per person. Additionally, we have 93.35 square miles available, and we need .57 square
miles at a minimum to support our refugees. This indicates that we can provide more space to
them, which makes the forest ideal to set up large refugee camps. Moreover, the reason for
choosing this location is due to a significant amount of space, minimal environmental impacts,
an abundance of water sources and reservations for camping.
Since a refugee needs twenty liters of water per day, which include drinking, bathing, and
sanitation, then twenty million liters of water will support a million of refugees per day. From the
water source, the refugees would need to extract twenty million liters daily. Our group will
retrieve water to the refugees by having their camps near streams and lakes. Also, volunteer

PROJECT SUMMARY

serviced water trucks to the refugees tents will transport water. Above all, this location provides
the necessary water required for the refugees.
Based on our calculations, a person consumes two liters of water a day. An average
refugee needs twenty liters of water per day, and for a year, a person needs 7,300 liters of water.
Altogether, the people consume twenty million liters of water per day. Otherwise, the
environmental impact of removing and relocating the designated water would be the limited
amount of water in the creeks and lakes. The reasoning behind this specific resettlement is due to
how much water the refugees consume daily and yearly without any harmful environmental
impacts.
In conclusion, we would want to resettle one million refugees at the Sam Houston
National Forest because of the abundant water supply, the adequate amount of land, and the least
amount of environmental impacts. This proposal solves the problem of the other three locations
where the refugees were in danger of attacks by dangerous animals such as alligators while Sam
Houston does not carry dangerous animals. Theoretically, Houston cannot support one million
refugees per month due to the sudden appearance of one million refugees; it would take a long
time to find a place big enough to hold them so suddenly.