Groundwater Resources in Africa

June 3, 2012 by David H. Shinn

Pipes are put in place for a Libyan water transfer project. Photo by Thomas Hartwell, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images via National Geographic Society

Groundwater is the major source of drinking water in Africa and its use for irrigation is forecast to increase substantially to combat growing food insecurity. As the largest and most widely distributed store of freshwater in Africa, groundwater provides an important buffer to climate change.  I ran across a recent technical study in the 2012 issue of Environmental Research Letters titled “Quantitative Maps of Groundwater Resources in Africa” by A.M. MacDonald, H.C. Bonsor, B.E.O. Dochartaigh and R.G. Taylor.

It provides the first quantitative continent-wide maps of aquifer storage and potential borehole yields in Africa based on an extensive review of available maps, publications and data. The largest groundwater volumes are found in the large sedimentary aquifers in the North African countries of Libya, Algeria, Egypt, and Sudan.  The survey looks at most countries in Africa. In the Horn of Africa, the two Sudans together have by far the most groundwater storage in the region. Ethiopia has the next highest amount followed closely by Somalia. Kenya is not too far behind. Eritrea and Djibouti have very low estimated groundwater storage.

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What’s Changed in Egypt?

June 3, 2012 by Deepak Tripathi

Anti-Mubarak rally in Tahrir Square. Photo by Jonathan Rashad

The day of judgment for Hosni Mubarak arrived on June 2. The 84-year-old deposed president was given a life sentence with his interior minister, Habib al-Adly, for the killing of hundreds of protesters during last year’s uprising. Mubarak and his sons, Gamal and Alaa, were acquitted of corruption charges. The court also acquitted a number of key interior ministry officials and security chiefs.  Some Egyptians celebrated immediately after the verdicts were announced. Soon, however, the mood turned angry, because many thought that the verdicts were too lenient. Both Mubarak and Adly will have the right to appeal. Other factors, too, continue to foment anxiety in the country.

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