3 6 ) m Volume (10

Groundwater Management Practices in Darfur State,

Situation Analysis

By

Muna Mirghani UNESCO-CWR

University of Omdurman, Khartoum

UNESCO CHAIR IN WATER

RESOURCES WATER IS LIFE

ج . ا .

س ^O.I.U.

ﻩﺎَﻴﻤﻠﻟ ﻮﻜْﺴِﻧﻮﻴﻟا ﻰﺳْﺮُآ

ﺔَﻴﻣﻼْﺳﻹا نﺎﻣرﺪﻣا ﺔَﻌِﻣﺎَﺟ

Darfur Setting

• Area: 544,484 (km

)

• Population: 6,580,409

• Socio-economic activities: Agro pastoral

• Total Water demand: 738.6 × 10

m

• Total water supply: 139 × 10

m

(19%)

El Fashir

Nyala

Darfur Setting

N

Legend:

Nubian Sandstone (Jurassic to cretaceous) Umm Rwaba Formation (Plio-Pleistocene) Alluvial Deposits (Pleistocene to Recent)

Basement Complex

Undifferentiated Volcanics

Groundwater Resources

¾Actual potential is not completely known.

¾Tentatively adds up to 667×10⁶ m³ renewable resources.

¾Affected by salinity and pollution.

Source: TNO-RWC, 1989.

Water resources in Darfur

Surface Runoff

60%

Groundwater 40%

Groundw ater Regarge vs Actual Abstraction in Darfur State

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Nubian Sandstone

Umm-Rw aba Formation

Alluvial Deposits Volume (106 m3 )

Recharge Abstraction

The president

State Council of Ministers

Agriculture

Locality

Health Engineering

Affairs

Local Government

State Water Corporation H & Env.

Council State Council

for H & Env

Env.H. Commettee

High Council for Env & N.R.

General Secretarial

Federal Council of Ministers State Governors (Wallis)

Health Irrig. & Water Resources

G.W.& Wadis Dpt Natural. W.

Corporation

Sanitary E. Dpt.

State Organs Federal Organs

Tourisim

& Env

Administrative Setup

Impacts

- 80% gap in demand coverage leaving large scale human suffering and animal death

- Lowering of water table is observed in the Bagara Basin (Umm-Ruwaba formation) and increasing salinity at some boreholes supplying Nyala city to augment the supply from Wadi Nyala

- Lowering of water table in Shagra Sandstone that supply Elfashir city.

- Salinity in Sag el-Naam Basin supplying Elfashir city.

- Environmental degradation

- Conflict, exodus of population to urban centers

Groundwater Management Issues in Darfur State

Institutions

• Lack of clear water policy and sustainable strategy on groundwater resources allocation linked to rural development and poverty reduction plans.

• The federal MIWR which is responsible for water resources planning and management including monitoring, assessment and allocation has no more direct control on groundwater development.

• Development and allocation of groundwater is performed by the State Ministry of town planning, without license or approval of MIWR and there is no binding law to govern the development and allocation of groundwater resources.

• Weakness of state water institutions due to limited financing, poor operation and management of water utilities due to.

• Poor institutional capacities in terms of technical know how and low level technologies used in groundwater monitoring, exploration as well as groundwater production in rural areas.

• Lack of investment in water services

Groundwater Management Issues in Darfur State

Non institutional

- Lack of adequate information on spatial and temporal variability of available groundwater resources.

- Unbalanced development in rural and urban areas and concentration of service in urban centers which lead to ever increasing water demands, and over exploitation of the groundwater basins supplying cities.

- Widespread natural hazard such as drought affecting rainfed agriculture mainly dependent on rainfall and runoff. This has in turn brought about non traditional groundwater users and added to conflicting uses.

- Lack of balanced between water supply and sanitation.

Remaining Challenges

• Institutional and legal reforms at federal and state levels.

• Proper assessment and mapping of renewable groundwater resources for future planning and sustainable development.

• Vulnerability assessment of different aquifers to different hazards including drought, salinity problems in sedimentary basins and pollution hazard in alluvial aquifers affecting quality.

• Apply conservation measure against desertification.

• Promotion of research in groundwater resources management including issues such as gender sensitive socio-economic impacts, urbanization and climate variability and limitation of recharge.

• Capacity building in groundwater management including better technology application and technical capacity building.

• Conjunctive use of surface and groundwater resources.

• Coordination with large development projects.

There is a need for an integrated approach for groundwater management in Darfur emphasizing the following issues.

Thank You