Sustainable Groundwater Development in Africa: More than Engineering

Keynote for Oklahoma University WaTER Conference 2015

Monday 21st September 2015

Dr Kerstin Danert Skat Foundation

& Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)

kerstin.danert @ skat.ch

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Source: United Nations Population Division (UNPD, 2014)

Estimated population of 183 million people (2015)

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Lets begin in Nigeria

JMP = Joint Monitoring Programme of UNICEF and WHO 3

Lets begin in Nigeria: increased groundwater use

JMP = Joint Monitoring Programme of UNICEF and WHO 4

Lets begin in Nigeria: increased groundwater use

46% Groundwater

69% Groundwater

Figure: Manual Drilling at a Petrol Station in Oyo State, Nigeria 5

Manual drilling is part of the story

Manual drilling spreading within Nigeria (early 1980s to today)

Lagos State States of Nigeria

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1980s today

Source: Danert et al (2014a, 2014b)

Expansion of Manual Drilling Techniques Nigeria – Chad – beyond

7 Source: Danert (2014a, 2014b)

Extent of manual drilling in Africa

Manual drilling is established

Manual drilling is take-off or tipping point

Manual drilling introduced (by agencies or enterprises from other countries)

Manual drilling was used in the past

Not covered by compendium

Source: Danert (2015) 8

Raising domestic water access Water for business & agriculture Creating employment ? Professional standards?

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Case Study Source: Laube et al (2008)

Photo: Evans Mensah/IRIN Maame Dufie, merchant at the Abeka market in Accra (Source: http://www.irinnews.org/report/83980/)

Photo: Ofosu (2011)

Photo: http://arash0098.deviantart.com/journal/A-short-real-Story-476645617

Groundwater development in North Eastern Ghana: irrigation, tomatoes & global markets

10 Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-many-times-can-the-u-s-a-fit-into-africa.1167757/

The true size of Africa

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…diversity of people

12 Figure: Geology of Africa (BGS, 2011)

geology

Sedimentary

Consolidated Sedimentary

13 Source: Burgis (2015)

mineral resources

• Groundwater is the main source of drinking water: – Direct use by > 480

million people in Africa (44% of the population – graph on right)

– 75% of African population (ECA et al, 2000)

• Groundwater often a complimentary source

• Very reliable resource & generally no treatment needed

• Use for irrigation forecast to increase

• Understanding of groundwater resources throughout Africa limited.

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and groundwater

Note – there is very little national and no comprehensive data on the sources of tapwater.

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• 2012: first quantitative continent-wide maps of aquifer storage and potential published – 0.66 million km3 of

storage (not all available for abstraction)

• ….

• …..

and groundwater

Groundwater storage (Source: MacDonald et al, 2012)

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Aquifer productivity (Source: MacDonald et al, 2012)

• 2012: first quantitative continent-wide maps of aquifer storage and potential published – 0.66 million km3 of

storage (not all available for abstraction)

• Uneven distribution

• Varied yields

and groundwater

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Liberia Sierra Leone

Figure: Distribution of Population by Drinking Water Source in Rural Areas of Liberia (Source: GoL, 2013)

40% of over 10,000 improved water points were not fully

functional (GoL, 2014)

2013:

• Borehole drilling underdeveloped • Little appreciation of borehole

potential • Poor understanding of

groundwater and drilling • Geological Survey focus on

precious minerals • Insufficient hydrogeologists &

positions • Incorporation of hydrogeology into

geology degree courses in Fourah Bay College

2014: • drilling principles & training (Source: Danert & Adekile, 2013 & 2014)

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Liberia Sierra Leone

Figure: Distribution of Population by Drinking Water Source in Rural Areas of Liberia (Source: GoL, 2013)

40% of over 10,000 improved water points were not fully

functional (GoL, 2014)

2013:

• Borehole drilling underdeveloped • Little appreciation of borehole

potential • Poor understanding of

groundwater and drilling • Geological Survey focus on

precious minerals • Insufficient hydrogeologists &

positions • Incorporation of hydrogeology into

geology degree courses in Fourah Bay College

2014: • drilling principles & training (Source: Danert & Adekile, 2013 & 2014)

“I have learned so much thanks to this drilling supervision course. I

already supervised the drilling of 12 wells but I used to go as a statue.

Gravel pack – I thought it was a German word.”

Comment by Drilling Supervision Course

Participant Danert & Adekile (2014)

Source: Grönwall et al., 2010

7059

35 32 32 30 29 28 24 19 18 18 18 15 14 13 13 12 11 8 8 8 7 7 6 3 2 0

% o

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ban

popu

lati

on

depe

nden

t on

gr

ound

wat

er

Urban Africa

There may be 800 million people living in slums in sub-Saharan

Africa by 2100.

Photo: Bwaise III , Kampala, Uganda- Robinah Kulabako

% of urban population dependent on non-piped groundwater

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Water provision in slums

Self supply • Low/no cost • No water quality testing • Accessible • Varied reliability • Not officially recognised

Public piped supply • High cost

• Water quality testing • Not everywhere

• Not reliable • Officially recognised

Urban Africa

20 Vendor water

• … the potential of groundwater for development in Africa is huge

• but – very little data is recorded,

monitored or analysed

– understanding of groundwater by political leaders and citizens is very limited

– legal frameworks are rare

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Figure: Drilling in Bo, Sierra Leone, 2014

Groundwater development

• Growing evidence that 20–30% of rural handpumps stop working in 2 years

• The benefits of improved access to water are lost

• Cumulative cost estimated to be $1.2bn (Source: A Hidden Crisis: unpicking the causes of failure of handpump boreholes - John Chilton, RWSN Webinar 9th Dec 2014)

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Figure: Water point functionality by age Source: Tincani et al (2015)

When water source fail

Malawi

• Rehabilitation of 39 boreholes: – inadequate siting or poor

construction responsible for 92% of failed boreholes (Anscombe, 2004).

• 338 rural water points – “by far, the most important

influences on functionality are technical factors: water point type, and installation quality, If technical quality is poor, [committee] members can do little to compensate” (Chowns, 2015).

Uganda • Poor siting and the construction

of most significant factor for the water point failures of ten handpumps (Bonsor et al, 2015)…. overriding deficiencies in the capacities of the water user committees (Bonsor et al, 2015).

Nigeria • In some states, up to 60% of

boreholes are non-functional, which can partly be attributed to poor supervision of drilling and pump installation (Furey, 2012)

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We need to get the engineering right!

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Africa will only reach the Sustainable Development Goal target for Safe Drinking

Water if drilled water wells are properly sited and constructed, water resources are

considered and there is long-term support for maintenance.

How can you support this challenge?

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Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

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Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

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Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources-top/sort/year-desc/filter/2_32_26_9

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Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

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National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

30

Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

31

Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

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Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

Data

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

33

Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

Data

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

Data

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National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

35

Skills, Knowledge

& Equipment

Professional Groundwater Development

Dialogue &

Exchange

Awareness &

Incentives

Groundwater Resources

Data

National Policies,

Procedures &

Standards

Project Design &

Implementation

Professional Water Well Drilling & Rehabilitation: A UNICEF Guidance Note (in draft)

References Burgis, T (2015) The Looting Machine: Warlords, tycoons, smugglers and the systematic theft of

Africa’s wealth, William Collins Chilton, J (2014) A Hidden Crisis: unpicking the causes of failure of handpump boreholes , RWSN

Webinar 9th Dec 2014, Available from: http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/651

Danert, K & Adekile, D (2013) Tapping Treasure, Cost-effective boreholes in Sierra Leone , Inception Visit Report, April 2013, Skat Foundation: Switzlerland, Available from: http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/493

Danert, K & Adekile, D (2014) Tapping Treasure: Cost-Effective Boreholes in Sierra Leone - Project Report 4, Skat Foundation: Switzerland, Available from http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/579

Danert, K (2014a) Chad’s Growing Manual Drilling Industry, Skat Foundation, Available from http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/656

Danert, K (2014b) Chad - Documentation of Manual Drilling [online video], Available from: http://vimeo.com/84021165

Danert, K, Adekile, D and Gesti Canuto, J (2014a) Documentation of Manual Drilling in Lagos and beyond [online video] Available from: http://vimeo.com/107047730

Danert, K, Adekile, D and Gesti Canuto, J(2014b) Manually Drilled Boreholes: Providing water in Nigeria’s Megacity of Lagos and Beyond, Skat Foundation, Switzerland. Available from http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/618

Danert , K (2015) Manual Drilling Compendium 2015, Publication 2015-2, Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN), Available from: http://www.rural-water-supply.net/en/resources/details/653

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References

ECA, Organisation for African Unit and African Development Bank (2000) Safeguarding life and development in Africa. A vision for water resources management in the 21st Century. African Caucus Presentation – Second World Water Forum, The Hague, The Netherlands, 18 March 2000.

GoL (2013) Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH), Sector Performance Report 2013, Government of the Republic of Liberia, Available from http://www.rural-water-supply.net

Grönwall, J.T., Mulenga, M and McGranahan, G (2010) Groundwater, self-supply and poor urban dwellers: A review with case studies of Bangalore and Lusaka, Human Settlements Working Paper Series, Water and Sanitation – 26, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), Available from http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/10584IIED.pdf

JMP (2015) Joint Monitoring Programme of UNICEF and WHO, 2015 Data, country files, Available from http://www.wssinfo.org/

Laube, W, Awo, S and Schraven, B (2008) Erratic Rains and Erratic Markets: Environmental change, economic globalisation and the expansion of shallow grounwater irrigation in West Africa, ZEF Working Paper Series 30, Centre for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany, Available on http://hdl.handle.net/10419/88330

MacDonald, A.M.; Bonsor, H.C.; Ó Dochartaigh, B.E.; Taylor, R.G.. 2012 Quantitative maps of groundwater resources in Africa. Environmental Research Letters, 7 (2), 024009. 10.1088/1748-9326/7/2/024009

Ofosu, E.A (2011) SUSTAINABLE IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE WHITE VOLTA SUB-BASIN, DISSERTATION, Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Board for Doctorates of Delft University of Technology and of the Academic Board of the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water, CRC Press

Tincani, L., Ross, I., Zaman, R., Burr, P., Mujica,A., & Evans, B. (2015) “Regional assessment of the operational sustainability of water and sanitation services in Sub-Saharan Africa” VFM-WASH project report, (in press)

UNPD (2014) United Nations Population Division in JMP (2015)

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Thank you!

www.rural-water-supply.net

https://vimeo.com/channels/drilling

http://upgro.org/

https://dgroups.org/rwsn

kerstin.danert@skat.ch

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How to get involved?

• Visit the RWSN website: http://rural-water-supply.net/en/;

• Become an RWSN member: http://rural-water-supply.net/en/rwsn-members;

• Join one (or more) of the thematic groups of your interest to share and discuss with your peers;

• Join an RWSN events.

– E.g. join the upcoming webinar series, starting 6 October 2015 with a 1 hour webinar on going “From building infrastructure to creating support mechanisms for rural water supplies”. See http://rural-water-supply.net/en/projekts/details/79.

Special interest in Sanitation? Check out the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance SuSaNa : http://www.susana.org/en/.

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