Groundwater experts tackle water crisis

However, experts say easily accessible water in sufficient quality and quality is limited and decreasing rapidly due to overdemand, mismanagement and the impacts of the triple global challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

The increasing risks of water scarcity facing humanity today and acutely reflected in the situation in Kenya, require a different approach to managing and reusing it. This was one of the key resolutions at the recent United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) in Nairobi.

The world’s top decision-making body on the environment explored a host of pressing environmental issues, from water shortages to the transition to clean energy. Unep has concluded that a circular economy approach is required to enable a more efficient use of natural resources, including water.

A circular economy approach is intended to ensure that resources are kept in use at the highest possible economic value for as long as possible.

Before UNEA-6, the water crisis also featured at the Geo-East African Conference and Expo organised jointly by the Geological Society of Kenya (GSK) and the Geological Registration Board.

GSK President Joseph Kuria, a hydrogeologist who has carried out vast groundwater and related geochemical explorations, said the discussions focused on sustainable exploitation and management of geo-resources, including groundwater.

The geologists’ conference theme, Beyond 2030: East Africa’s Geo-Resources Portfolio for Economic Development and Energy Transition, was echoed at UNEA-6 as Kenya endures a severe water crisis exacerbated by climate change.

Several issues, including global warming causing recurrent and increasingly severe droughts and flooding, the contamination of drinking water and a lack of investment in water resources, have enhanced the crisis.

A land of wide variations in climate and differences in altitude, with a narrow tropical belt along the coastline, large areas of semi-arid and arid desert and a temperate highland plateau through the Rift Valley with extinct volcanoes, Kenya continues to experience a short supply of water.

Without urgent action, the gap between water demand and supply is projected to reach 30 percent by 2030, according to the 2030 Kenya Water Resources Group, a public, private, civil society, multi-donor trust fund hosted by the World Bank.

The group supports stakeholders in “collective decision-making, and in co-designing out-of-the-box solutions that promote strong socioeconomic development across all sectors connected to water in Kenya.”

Climate change, deforestation, unsustainable consumption behaviours and catchment degradation are worsening the impacts of droughts and floods in the country, resulting in increased water stress and insecurity for agricultural, industrial and domestic use.

Planned development targets will require more water to meet the needs of energy, agriculture and manufacturing; and competition for water is increasing. Additionally, water loss remains a major challenge in urban areas, with commercial and physical losses accounting for about 42 percent of total water.

Responding to the water crisis and climate change amid the extreme physical features that characterise Kenya’s landscape and underground sedimentation, a panel at the Geo-East African Conference and Expo chaired by geologist Eliud Wamwangi focused on sustainable groundwater development.

Geological Registration Board chairman Prof Daniel Olago, who is also the chair of the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences and research director, Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation at the University of Nairobi, said the main challenge is climate change and mitigation measures at the community level.

“The advantage is that groundwater acts as a buffer against climate change. It doesn’t evaporate and isn't easily polluted. Aquifers are recharged by heavy rainfall. We are dealing with different challenges, including abstraction, fluctuation and pollution. Unesco looked at the entire country and came up with a 25-year plan.

“Satellite data images, along with hydrological and geological data have been used to research and develop maps of the potential of groundwater resources in Turkana and Marsabit counties, and to perform an economic assessment of groundwater use,” said Prof Olago, whose research areas include environmental geoscience, water resources and climate change.

Water Resources Authority CEO Mohamed Shurie noted how climate change affects groundwater. He revealed that in Northeastern Kenya, people rely 100 percent on groundwater. “During floods, they lose lives, livestock, property and homes, and during drought, these problems persist on a worse scale,” Shurie said.

He said the Horn of Africa Groundwater for Resilience Programme was launched in a bid to alleviate this perennial double jeopardy facing the residents of Northeastern Kenya. The project will manage seven identified aquifers, with a study on how to recharge them.

The World Bank approved the multi-phase project to benefit from $385 million (Sh50.3 billion) in International Development Association (IDA) financing to boost the region’s capacity to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The project initiated under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad), includes Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, with Djibouti and South Sudan expected to join in the subsequent phases. In Kenya, the project covers Garissa, Mandera, Marsabit, Turkana and Wajir, implicating transborder aquifers across these counties.

The Horn of Africa countries will work together to tap into the region’s largely untapped groundwater resources to cope with and adapt to drought and other climate stressors impacting their vulnerable borderlands.

"Groundwater constitutes a natural buffer against climate variability and change, as it is available in times of drought when other surface or subsurface resources are scarce,” said Daher Elmi Houssein, Igad director of agriculture and environment.

Shurie emphasised the importance of accurate data in tapping into the immense benefits the residents of the region are expected to derive from groundwater resources envisaged in the project.

“We started automating data in 2017 and established a data system. Today we have over 140 stations transmitting data on groundwater. The data will soon be available online. We have also started the exploration of boreholes across the country of up to 500 metres, the deepest is 600 metres,” Shurie said.

He said water levels are going down considerably and asked what the Water Resources Management Authority (WARMA) was doing about it.

Chris Gicheru, an expert with Earth Water Ltd, a consultancy specialising in water resources investigations (groundwater and surface water assessment studies, and rural development), revealed an attack by “quacks” who have brought the water industry to shame.

“These quacks, who are actually us, are not honest and do not follow the law and code of practice. Some of them don’t have the equipment to conduct assessments and use smartphones to appease clients. The result is bad, leading to complaints from clients. We must point out these legal issues to eliminate these quacks,” he said.

Gicheru said equipment is critical for reliability to clients’ needs in geophysical surveys and depends on the methods applied. “Over the years, the tendency has been for the equipment to replace the geologist. I don’t think they have been successful.”

Geologists from the Regional Centre on Groundwater Resources gave insights on sustainability, with Sarah Gatobu discussing the impacts of structural geology on groundwater occurrence and development.

Cynthia Wacuka spoke on research in Kiambu on the influence of precipitation on groundwater availability.

CEO Agnes Mbugua said the centre, established in response to the impact of climate change, is focusing on training and the importance of groundwater.

“The centre is looking at the climatisation of aquifers, creating awareness of community capacity building and working with professionals to update skills.”

The centre packages information for policymakers and the Ministry of Water and Sanitation leadership through policy briefs and the technical aspects of diverse new technology and artificial water recharge and mapping.