Thread: Africa finds huge aquifier

Mebbe dey'll be able to irrigate the Sahara...

'Huge' water resource exists under Africa
20 April 2012 - Scientists say the notoriously dry continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater.

They argue that the total volume of water in aquifers underground is 100 times the amount found on the surface. The team have produced the most detailed map yet of the scale and potential of this hidden resource. Writing in the journal Environmental Research Letters, they stress that large scale drilling might not be the best way of increasing water supplies.

Across Africa more than 300 million people are said not to have access to safe drinking water. Demand for water is set to grow markedly in coming decades due to population growth and the need for irrigation to grow crops. Freshwater rivers and lakes are subject to seasonal floods and droughts that can limit their availability for people and for agriculture. At present only 5% of arable land is irrigated.

Now scientists have for the first time been able to carry out a continent-wide analysis of the water that is hidden under the surface in aquifers. Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London (UCL) have mapped in detail the amount and potential yield of this groundwater resource across the continent.

Helen Bonsor from the BGS is one of the authors of the paper. She says that up until now groundwater was out of sight and out of mind. She hopes the new maps will open people's eyes to the potential. "Where there's greatest ground water storage is in northern Africa, in the large sedimentary basins, in Libya, Algeria and Chad," she said. "The amount of storage in those basins is equivalent to 75m thickness of water across that area - it's a huge amount."

Ancient events

Originally Posted by waltky

Mebbe dey'll be able to irrigate the Sahara...

'Huge' water resource exists under Africa
20 April 2012 - Scientists say the notoriously dry continent of Africa is sitting on a vast reservoir of groundwater.

Sorry but don;t get your hopes too high. Australia has one of the biggest Aquifers in the world - the Great Artesian Basin, we have a LOT more money and at least as much desert, which remains desert despite all of this - why

A) Aquifers are finite
b) They supplement but do not replace good regular rainfall
c) they are often stinking hot or contain minerals unhealthy to, well everything really (thinks of Pakistan's arsenic polluted wells)
d) a couple of the reasons why a desert is a desert is ether the soil is equivalent to a billiard ball (like around here) or the evaporation rate is staggering or both

Sorry to bust a bubble..........

Namibia could easily become a fertile crop land to grow food for Africa...

Vast aquifer found in Namibia could last for centuries
20 July 2012 - Pressure from the aquifer means the water is cheap to extract

A newly discovered water source in Namibia could have a major impact on development in the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates suggest the aquifer could supply the north of the country for 400 years at current rates of consumption. Scientists say the water is up to 10,000 years old but is cleaner to drink than many modern sources. However, there are concerns that unauthorised drilling could threaten the new supply.

Huge resource

For the people of northern Namibia water is something that they either have too much of or too little. The 800,000 people who live in the area depend for their drinking water on a 40-year-old canal that brings the scarce resource across the border from Angola. Over the past decade the Namibian government have been trying to tackle the lack of a sustainable supply in partnership with researchers from Germany and other EU countries. They have now identified a new aquifer called Ohangwena II, which flows under the boundary between Angola and Namibia. On the Namibian side of the border it covers an area roughly 70 km by 40 km (43 miles by 25 miles).

According to project manager Martin Quinger, from the German federal institute for geoscience and natural resources (BGR), it's a substantial body of water. "The amount of stored water would equal the current supply of this area in northern Namibia for 400 years, which has about 40 percent of the nation's population." "What we are aiming at is a sustainable water supply so we only extract the amount of water that is being recharged. "What we can say is that the huge amount of stored water is will always be enough for a back up for an area that is currently supplied only by surface water." This region is dependent on two rivers for its water supply. But this has restricted agricultural development to areas close to these water sources.

Mr Quinger says that the new aquifer has great potential to change the nature of farming in the area. "For the rural water supply the water will be well suited for irrigation and stock watering, the possibilities that we open with this alternative resource are quite massive." he explains. As well as providing a new source for agriculture in a region the aquifer will augment existing potable supplies. Martin Quinger says the discovery may be up to 10,000 years old but it is still good to drink. "If the water [has spent] 10,000 years underground, it means it was recharged at a time when environmental pollution was not yet an issue, so on average it can be a lot better than water that infiltrates in cycles of months or years."

Dangerous drilling

Land rich in resources has it's people living in poverty...

While rich in resources, Africa’s people live in poverty
October 25, 2012 - Delegates from around Africa wrapped up the 8th African Development Forum, ADF, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Thursday, October 25. African countries were called on to harness their abundant natural resources for the sustainability of economies and the empowerment of the people of the continent.

The continent of Africa hosts a wealth of natural resources, some of which include platinum, diamonds, gold, copper, chromium, iron, cobalt and oil. “$50-billion leaves Africa’s soils every year in terms of illicit financial flow,” said Yinka Adeyemi of the Economic Commission for Africa. Adeyemi said for too long the continent has been experiencing the draining of its natural resources, either through direct stealing, or by other illicit means, leaving the people of these countries in poverty.

“The problem we have been facing is that these resources are not used appropriately and adequately for improvement of our people’s lives. An economists’ projection for 2012 said that five of the ten top growers in terms of GDP are in Africa. How come some of these countries are also some of the poorest?” said Adeyemi, who went on to provide the example of Niger. “Niger comes in at about five or six in terms of uranium. Why is it that that same country happens to be one of the poorest in the world? It makes no sense,” said Adeyemi.

Adeyemi went on to say that in order for Africans to benefit from their abundant natural resources, participants at the forum put into place some initiatives. The goal is for African countries to have a framework that goes beyond each country so they can work together on addressing the issues affecting natural resources, either by regulation or civil society action.

By the end of the session it is expected that hundreds of the participants will have adopted a consensus statement. “The consensus statement will outline a plan of action. We are the Economic Commission of Africa. We’ve accompanied countries to implement a plan of action. The work will depend on what each country can do,” said Adeyemi.

[url=http://www.voanews.com/content/africa-resources-economy/1533218.html]To listen to the entire interview click on audio.[url]