Abstract
Much of southern and eastern Africa is semi-arid and heavily groundwater dependent. Borehole drilling commenced over a hundred years ago with magnetic and electrical resistivity surveys for borehole siting being introduced from 1936. Formalised training of hydrogeologists led in the 1970s to an almost standard approach to hydrogeological investigation and a period of stability followed, during which some major investigations were carried out. A period of decentralisation and fragmentation has since taken place in many parts of southern and eastern Africa, and groundwater monitoring and management are inadequate in many countries. All but six of the 14 SADC (Southern African Development Community) member states reportedly have an adequate monitoring network in place. However, groundwater demand is increasing and hydrogeologists need to promote the use of appropriate methodologies as an essential part of tackling the severe issues now facing the water sector in the region.
Résumé
Le sud et l’est de l’Afrique sont essentiellement semi-arides, et grandement dépendant des eaux souterraines. Les opérations de forage ont débuté il y a plus d’un siècle, les premières campagnes magnétiques et de résistivité électrique pour l’implantation des forages datant de 1936. L'entraînement officialisé d'hydrogéologues a mené au cours des années 1970 à une approche presque standard à l'enquête hydrogéologique et à une période de stabilité suivie, pendant lequel quelques enquêtes importantes ont été réalisées. Une période de décentralisation et fragmentation s’est depuis installée dans plusieurs zones de l’Afrique orientale et australe, et la gestion et le suivi des eaux souterraines sont insuffisants dans de nombreux pays. Sur les quatorze pays membres de la Communauté de Développement de l’Afrique Australe (SADC), huit possèdent officiellement un réseau de suivi opérationnel suffisant. Cependant les besoins en eau souterraine sont en pleine augmentation, et les hydrogéologues se doivent de promouvoir l’utilisation de méthodologies appropriées comme un moyen de lutte essentiel contre les problèmes graves menaçant actuellement le secteur de l’eau dans la région.
Resumen
Gran parte del sur y oriente de África es semi-árido y depende fuertemente del agua subterránea. La perforación de pozos empezó hace unos cien años con levantamientos de resistividad eléctrica y magnéticos para delimitación de pozos que se iniciaron en 1936. La formación formalizada de hidrogeólogos condujo en los años 1970 a un acercamiento casi estándar a la investigación hidrogeológica y un período de estabilidad seguida, durante que algunas investigaciones principales fueron realizadas. Desde entonces se ha registrado un periodo de descentralización y fragmentación en el sur y oriente de África, con una gestión y monitoreo inadecuado de aguas subterráneas en varios países. Seis de los catorce estados miembros de la SADC (Comunidad para el Desarrollo del Sur de África) han reportado contar con una red de monitoreo adecuada instalada. Sin embargo, se ha registrado un incremento en la demanda de agua subterránea y los hidrogeólogos necesitan promocionar el uso de metodologías apropiadas como parte esencial de atacar los problemas severos que enfrenta el sector hídrico de la región.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Acworth RI (1987) The development of crystalline basement aquifers in a tropical environment. Q J Eng Geol 20(4):265–272
Barker R (2004) The use of geophysics in borehole siting in hard rock areas of Africa. In: Mather JD (ed) 200 years of British hydrogeology. Geol Soc London Spec Publ 225:263–269
Binnie and Partners (1971) Lesotho: study on water resources development, inventory report. Report UNDP/IBRD, London and Maseru
Boocock C, van Straten OJ (1962) Notes on the geology and hydrogeology of the Central Kalahari Region, Bechuanaland Protectorate. Trans Geol Soc South Africa 65:125–171
Bonney G (1975) Estimates of groundwater resources in Lesotho. Report, Department of Mines and Geology, Lesotho Government, Maseru
Brikke F, Bredero M (2003) Linking technical choice with operation and maintenance in the context of community water supply and sanitation: a reference document for planners and project staff. World Health Organisation and IRC Water and Sanitation Centre, Geneva, Switzerland. (http://www.who.int/en/). Cited 4 Apr 2005
Brokonsult AB (1980) Tabora region water master plan. The Ministry of Water Development, Energy and Minerals, Dar Es Salaam, Republic of Tanzania
Calow RC, Robins NS, MacDonald AM, Macdonald DMJ, Gibbs BR, Orpen WRG, Mtembezeka P, Andrews AJ, Appiah SO (1997) Groundwater management in drought prone areas of Africa. Int J Water Resour Dev 13(2):241–261
Calow RC, MacDonald AM, Nicol A, Robins NS, Kebede S (2002) The struggle for water, drought, water security and rural livelihoods. Technical Report British Geological Survey, for UK Department for International Development, British Geological Survey, Nottingham
Clay E, Borton J, Dhiri S, Gonzalez ADG, Pandolfi C (1995) Evaluation of ODA’s response to the 1991–1992 Southern African drought, vols. 1 and 2. Evaluation Report EV568, Overseas Development Administration, London
Cooper WGG (1950) Electrical aids in water finding. Report for Nyasaland Geological Survey, Mining Publications, London
Dennis PE (1961) Groundwater in the Sabi Valley, Southern Rhodesia. US Geol Surv Prof Pap 424D, article 372
Du Toit AL (1906) Underground water in south-eastern Bechuanaland. Trans South African Philos Soc 16:251–262
Du Toit AL (1915) On the porosity of the rocks of the Karroo system of South Africa. Trans R Soc S Afr (4):169–180
Du Toit AL (1928) Borehole water supplies in the Union of South Africa. Mining Proceedings of the South African Society of Civil Engineers 31, South African Society of Civil Engineers, Johannesburg
DWA (1991) Botswana national water master plan study: final report volume 5 hydrogeology. Department of Water Affairs (with SMEC, WLPU, and SGAB), Gaborone, Botswana
Enslin JF, Kriel JP (1959) Some results obtained from a hydrological study of a dolomitic catchment area in the Transvaal, Republic of South Africa. Transactions Specialists Conference on Hydrology, Yaounde, Cameroun, CCTA, London
Farr JL, Cheney CS, Baron JH (1981) GS10 Project Final Report: evaluation of groundwater resources. Government of Botswana, Gaborone
Farr JL, Gumiremhete R, Davies J, Robins NS (2005) Groundwater dependence and drought within the Southern African Development Community, vol 1. Biennial Ground Water Conference, Pretoria, March 2005, pp 97–105
Foster SSD (2000) Groundwater resources at the turn of the millennium: taking stock and looking forward. Groundwater, Past Achievements and Future Challenges, Proceedings of 30th IAH Congress on Groundwater, Cape Town, pp 27–33
Gear D (1977) The manner of occurrence of groundwater in Rhodesia. Report Ministry of Water Development, Salisbury
Gibb (1969) Botswana: Shashi River feasibility studies. Report on feasibility study to AK1 (Orapa). Report Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, London
Hindson LL, Wurzel P (1963) Groundwater in the Sabi Valley alluvial plain. Rhod J Agric Sci 1:99–106
Houston JFT (1982) Rainfall and recharge to a dolomite aquifer in a semi-arid climate at Kabwe, Zambia. J Hydrol 59:173–187
Houston JFT, Lewis MA (1988) The Victoria province drought relief project: II. Borehole yield relationships. Ground Water 2:418–426
Iliffe J (2006) The African aids epidemic: a history. James Currey Publishers, Oxford, UK
Interconsult (1985) National master plan for rural water supply and sanitation: hydrogeology. Ministry of Energy and Water Resources and Development, Harare, Republic of Zimbabwe
Jennings CMH (1969) Groundwater in Botswana. Paper presented at Symposium on Groundwater in Southern Africa, April 1969, Pretoria
JICA (1995) The study of the national water resources master plan in the Republic of Zambia. Final Report October 1995. Japan International Cooperation Agency/Republic of Zambia Ministry of Energy and Water Development, Lusaka
JICA (2002) A study of Japan’s ODI to Africa, towards sustainable and self reliant poverty reduction in Africa. Report, Institute for International Cooperation/Japan International Cooperation Agency, Tokyo
Jones MJ (1985) The weathered zone aquifers of the basement complex of Africa. Q J Eng Geol 18(1):35–46
MacDonald AM, Davies J, Calow RC, Chilton PJ (2005) Developing groundwater: a guide for rural water supply. ITDG, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, UK
MacDonald D (1970) The development of railway borehole water supplies on the Bulawayo-Dett section since 1950. Rhod Sci News 4(12):398–405
Maxwell S (2001) The evolution of thinking about food security. In: Devereux S, Maxwell S (eds) Food security in Sub-Saharan Africa, ITDG, Bourton-on-Dunsmore, UK
Mazor E, Verhagen BT, Sellschop JPF, Jones MT, Robins NS, Hutton LG, Jennings CMH (1977) Northern Kalahari groundwaters: hydrologic, isotopic and chemical studies at Orapa, Botswana. J Hydrol 34:203–234
McFarlane MJ (1992) Groundwater movement and water chemistry associated with weathering profiles of the African surface in parts of Malawi. In: Wright EP, Burgess WG (eds) Hydrogeology of crystalline basement Africa. Geol Soc Spec Publ 66:101–129
McKenzie AA (1997) Groundwater data management by the Malawian ministry of irrigation and water development: a case study. Technical Report British Geological Survey WC/97/9, British Geological Survey, Nottingham
Nord M (1985) Sand rivers of Botswana Results from Phase 2 of the SIDA Sand Rivers Project. Technical Report, Department of Water Affairs, Gaborone, Botswana
Ockelford J, Reed R (2002) Participatory planning for integrated RWS and sanitation programmes. Guidelines for planning and designing rural water supply and sanitation programmes. WEDC, Loughborough, UK. (http://wedc.lboro.ac.uk/). Cited 4 Apr 2006
Paver GL, Pretorius DA (1954) Report on reconnaissance hydrogeological investigations in the western desert coastal zone. Publications de l’Institut du Desert D’Egypt, Cairo
Pieterson K (2005) Basic human needs and the right to health; the contribution of ground water. Proceedings of the Biennial Groundwater Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, March 2005, pp 799–809
Robins NS (1980) A review of groundwater resources and well yields in Swaziland. Trans Geol Soc S Afr 83(1):1–4
Robins NS, Davies J, Hankin P, Sauer D (2003) Groundwater and data: an African experience. Waterlines 21(4):19–21
SADC (2002) Compilation of the hydrogeological atlas for the SADC region. Draft Final Version. Groundwater Consultants Bee Pee (Pty) Ltd and SRK Consulting (Pty) Ltd for SADC Water Sector Coordination Unit, Lesotho. 54 pp
Sekwale M (1984) Hydrogeological data collection, storage, retrieval and water law in Botswana. In: Challenges in African hydrology and water resources (Proceedings of the Harare Symposium, July 1984). IAHS Publication Number 144, IAHS, Wallingford, UK, pp 221–228
Shaw SH (1935) Geophysical prospecting - a study of the resistivity method in connection with the investigation of underground water supplies in the Nata Reserve, Southern Rhodesia. Trans Inst Min Metal 44:1–7
Skofteland E (1995) Background of water resources in the SADC region. Water resources management in Southern Africa: a vision for the future. Conference of SADC Ministers responsible for Water Resources Management, November 1995, Department of Water Affairs and Forestry, Pretoria
Smith-Carington AK, Chilton PJ (1983) Groundwater resources of Malawi. Report, Government of Malawi, Lilongwe
UNICEF (1999) Towards better programming: a water handbook. Water, Environment and Sanitation Technical Guidelines, Series 2, Untied Nations Children’s Fund, New York (http://www.unicef.org/wes/). Cited 4 Apr 2006
Van Straten OJ (1955) The geology and groundwaters of the Ghanzi Cattle Route. In: Annual report for the geological survey of the Bechuanaland Protectorate for 1955, Geological Survey, Lobatse, Bechuanaland (Botswana), pp 28–39
Vegter JR (2001) Groundwater development in South Africa and an introduction to the hydrogeology of groundwater regions. WRC Report No. TT 134/00, Water Research Commission, Pretoria
Verhagen BTh (1990) Isotope hydrology of the Kalahari: recharge or no recharge? Palaeoecol Afr 21:143–158
Vogel JC, Bredenkamp DB (1969) A study of subterranean water in the southern Kalahari with the aid of carbon-14 dating and isotope analysis. Technical Report, CSIR, Pretoria
Way HJR (1939) Results of the application of the resistivity method to the water problems of Uganda. In: Bulletin no 3, Geological Survey of Uganda, Entebbe, pp 161–179
WB (2005) African Water Development Report, Interim Version. World Bank, Washington, DC. (http://www.uneca.org/awich/African_Water_Regional_Report/water_dvpt_report.htm). Cited 4 Apr 2006
WHO (1973) Sectoral study and national programming for community and rural water supply, sewerage and water pollution control: groundwater resources in Kenya. World Health Organisation, Brazaville, Government of Kenya
Woodford AC, Chevallier L (2002) Hydrogeology of the Main Karoo Basin: current knowledge and future research needs. Technical report TT 179/02 Water Research Commission, Pretoria, South Africa
Worthington PF, Martinelli E (1977) An improved format for the routine documentation of water-well data in Southern Africa. Civ Eng S Afr July:147–153
Wright EP (1992) The hydrogeology of crystalline basement aquifers in Africa. In: Wright EP, Burgess WG (eds) Hydrogeology of crystalline basement aquifers in Africa. Geol Soc London Spec Publ 66:1–27
Wright EP, Herbert R, Kitching R, Murray KH (1987) Collector wells in crystalline basement aquifers: a review of results of recent research. In: Proceedings of the 21st Congress of the International Association of Hydrogeologists, April 1987, Rome
Zu Y, Beekman HE (2003) Groundwater recharge estimation in Southern Africa. UNESCO, Paris
Acknowledgements
This report is published by permission of the Director, of the British Geological Survey. The authors are grateful to the reviewers for greatly improving the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Robins, N.S., Davies, J., Farr, J.L. et al. The changing role of hydrogeology in semi-arid southern and eastern Africa. Hydrogeol J 14, 1483–1492 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-006-0056-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-006-0056-x