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Water for a food-secure world

Transboundary aquifer mapping and management in Africa:

a harmonised approach

Yvan Altchenko

& Karen G. Villholth

1st African Water Symposium

Bloemfontein, 19-21 June 2013

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Groundwater resources in Africa

• Total groundwater storage in Africa is 0.66 million km3 (0.36–1.75 million km3)

• Not all is available for abstraction

• BUT the estimated volume is more than 100 times estimates of annual renewable freshwater (MacDonald et al., 2012)

(MacDonald et al., 2012)

• 75 % of the African population depend on groundwater for basic water supply (UNECA et al., 2000)

• Groundwater demands are set to increase in the future with: • Population increase • Climate change • Need to combat growing food insecurity

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• Impacts of groudwater (GW) development and use in one state may affect another

• Water and land use development in one state may affect GW resources in another

• GW impacts across borders may not be obvious without joint monitoring

• Equitable, informed, and mutually agreed development of GW and land use can prevent tension

• Costs, results, and benefits of monitoring can be shared

• Many transboundary terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are GW-dependent and cannot be properly managed without knowledge on the GW resources

• Surface Water (SW) issues involve, or even have root in, GW related activities and impacts

• General collaboration and goodwill can be enhanced

• Equitable and informed GW development and management has a lot to do with achieving MDGs, poverty alleviation, food security, climate change adaptation, and drought mitigation

Why focus on groundwater management in a transboundary sense?

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What is a Transboundary Aquifer (TBA)?

Where to find TBAs?

(UNESCO/ISARM, 2001)

A transboundary aquifer or a transboundary aquifer system (TBA) is defined as “an aquifer or aquifer system, parts of which are situated in different States” (UN International Law Commission - UNILC)

DEFINITION

BUT in practical identification and verification of a TBA, the spatial delimitation, hydrogeological similarity, recharge and discharge mechanisms and zones, and significant hydraulic connectivity between the national compartments of the TBA are important and should be established and agreed upon between aquifer-sharing states.

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Evolution of the number of identifiec TBAs in Africa

WHYMAP(2006) IGRAC (2009) IGRAC (2012)

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A new nomenclature proposed based on 3 regional zones and most prominent development communities

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80 transboundary aquifers

42 % of area of Africa

30 % of African population

63 international river/lake basins

21 international water basin organisations

The TBA map of Africa

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TBA information table

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TBA management

• Transboundary water resources management has been totally dominated by a surface water focus, practically ignoring the interconnections with surface water

• Data on TBAs reside in national institutions, transboundary River/Lake Basin Organisations (R/LBOs) and other international organisations i.e. IGRAC

• Presently, there are two options for adopting groundwater into international agreements on water cooperation:

• The 1997 United Nations Water Courses Convention (UNWCC), which defines GW as a physical extension of surface water body within the watercourse spatial domain

BUT groundwater boundaries don’t necessary match with river basin boundary

• The 19 drafts articles on the Law of Transboundary Aquifers presented in 2008

BUT still not adopted by the UN General Assembly which promotes bilateral or regional agreement between the countries in the interim i.e. Guarani Aquifer in S. America

• African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) promotes TBA management by R/LBOs

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International basins

TBAs

TBA management by River/Lake Basin Organisations (R/LBOs) ?

• Argument for:

Their present integral role as custodians for shared river and lake basin resources

• Counterargument:

• Poor human capacity, financing and authority

• The geographical location of the TBAs doesn’t necessary match with the spatial mandate of the R/LBOs

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• Three international agreements with explicit focus on groundwater:

• Nubian Sandstone aquifer system (AFNE12) from 2000

• North Western Sahara aquifer system (AFNE16) from 2002

• Irhazer – Iullemeden (AFWC15) from 2009

• R/LBOs with high focus on groundwater

• Orange-Senqu River Basin

• Lake Victoria Basin

• Lake Chad

• SADC is taking a frontrunner position in TBA management:

• Protocol on Shared Watercourses revised in 2000 and hinges on the UNWCC

• Regional Strategic Action Plan III (2011-2015) for integrated water resources management explicitly addressing TBA management

• Work in process on identifying “troublesome” TBAs in order to prioritise support and pilote solutions

TBAs management in Africa

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• TBA identification and delineation is an on-going process

• TBA management is expected to raise the profile of neglected local/national GW resources management, especially in low development countries

• TBAs management can reduce future conflicts linked with groundwater abstraction and land use development

• BUT there is a need to:

• understand flow processes and interactions with surface water

• develop collaboration and knowledge sharing between the riparian countries

• reformulate and adapt the legal basis of R/LBOs to include explicit mentioning of GW (not as a new and separate domain)

• design flexible and hybrid institutional models built on the present customary approach of making the R/LBOs responsible

Conclusions

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Altchenko Y. and K.G. Villholth (2013 – in press) Transboundary aquifer mapping and management in Africa: a harmonised approach , Hydrogeological J., DOI: 10.1007/s10040-013-1002-3. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), African Union (AU), and African Development Bank (AfDB) (2000) The Africa Water Vision for 2025: Equitable and Sustainable Use of Water for Socioeconomic Development. 28 pp. MacDonald A., H. Bonsor, B. Dochartaigh and R. Taylor (2012) Quantitative maps of groundwater resources in Africa, Environ. Res.. Lett., 7. DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/7/2/024009 World-wide Hydrogeological Mapping and Assessment Programme (WHYMAP) (2006) Groundwater resources of the world - Transboundary aquifer systems. BGR/ UNESCO. International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) (2009) Transboundary aquifers of the world – update 2009. Special Edition for 5th World Water Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, March 2009 (Ed. Kukuric N.) International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC) (2012) Transboundary aquifers of the world – update 2012. Special Edition for 6th World Water Forum, Marseille, France, March 2012 (Ed. Kukuric N)

References

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THANK YOU

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• 2000: UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Scientific Cooperative Programme in Hydrology and

Water Resources launched the ISARM Project (International Shared Aquifer Resources

Management) which published in 2004 the first Africa-wide TBA map

• 2000: SADC adopted Revised Protocol on Shared Watercourses

• 2007: AMCOW at its 6th Session in Brazzaville states the aim to ‘promote the

institutionalisation of GW management by river basin organisations

• 2008: 19 draft articles of the UNILC Law of Transboundary Aquifers, still in process for

adoption by the UN General Assembly

History of TBAs in Africa