AfriWatSan

A policy brief recently released by the AfriWatSan team at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop of Dakar provides new  information on the hydrological impacts of extreme rainfalls. Indeed, new observations recorded in the AfriWatSan urban monitoring facility in the Thiaroye and Keur Massar suburb of Dakar show how extreme rainfalls flush faecal pollutants from septic tanks into shallow groundwater. High-frequency observations of groundwater levels and daily rainfall over the last 4 years highlight the importance of heavy rainfalls in generating groundwater recharge indicated by sharp rises in water tables to heavy rainfall events. New evidence from the AfriWatSan urban observatory…

AfriWatSan UCAD co-PI, Prof. Cheikh Becaye Gaye, will be involved in the 26th May 2021 online event held as part of the dialogue series initiated by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), on behalf of the German Government, under the slogan “Water Dialogues for Results Bonn 2021: Accelerating cross-sectoral SDG 6 implementation”. To register for this important event, please click on the following link: https://cutt.ly/ebPalGK Download the flyer for more information: http://afriwatsan.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021_05_18_Flyer-Regional-Forum-for-Africa_EN.pdf Prof. Gaye’s presentation at the  20th May 2021 webinar of the African Ministers’ Council on Water available here.

On 26 February 2021,  the Oxford Water Network and the  British Geological Survey will co-host the 5th Mike Edmunds Memorial Lecture. Prof. Cheikh B. Gaye, AfriWatSan co-PI at the Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar (Senegal) who worked closely with Prof. Mike Edmunds, will deliver the keynote. The event will also bring together a panel chaired by AfriWatSan PI, Prof. Richard Taylor, and that will comprise African experts on groundwater issues including AfriwatSan co-I at Makerere University (Uganda), Dr. Robinah Kulabako, and co-PI at the University of Nairobi (Kenya), Prof. Daniel Olago. Please click on the following link to register…

From 06 to 10 December 2020, further to his reappointment by the Honourable Minister of Water Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Member representing Senegal in the 2nd Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management (RC-IRBM) Governing for a renewed and final term of three (3) years, Professor Cheikh Becaye Gaye has participated at the inauguration of the 2nd Governing Board of the RC-IRBM by the Honorable Minister and the 1st meeting of the new Governing Board of the RC IRBM on 07 December. The Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management is established within the framework of…

In August and September of 2020, extreme rainfall events caused flooding in Dakar. A new monitoring facility in the AfriWatSan urban groundwater observatory in the Keur Massar in Dakar (Senegal) yields new insight into the hydrological impacts of such events. Located beside a large septic tank beneath a school toilet block, the facility provides high-frequency observations of rainfall and changes in the quantity and quality of soil moisture flowing through the unsaturated zone to shallow groundwater in Quaternary sands.   During a wetter (535 mm) than normal (450 to 500 mm) rainy season in 2020, two extreme rainfall events were…

The AfriWatSan Project regularly publishes stories in journals of reference. Some of these publications are repeated in the current Website. Below, a selection of the papers available on the website. Calvince O. Othoo,  Simeon O. Dulo, Daniel O. Olago, Richard Ayah (2020). Effects of Shallow Water Table on the Construction of Pit Latrines and Shallow Wells in the Informal Settlements of Kisumu City. Research Institute for Humanity and Nature James P.R. Sorensen, Mor Talla Diaw, Abdoulaye Pouye, Raphaëlle Roffo, Djim M. L. Diongue, Seynabou C. Faye, Cheikh B. Gaye, Bethany G.Fox, Timothy Goodall, Daniel J.Lapworth, Alan M. MacDonald, Daniel S. Read, Lena Ciric, Richard G. Taylor (2020). In-situ fluorescence spectroscopy indicates total bacterial…

The AfriWatSan Project made relevant presentations at the AfWA 2020 International Congress and Exhibition held in Kampala (Uganda) from 24 to 27 February 2020. Please visit the Resources‘ section of the AfriWatSan’s Project’s Website for more information.      

In Dakar, field work under AfriWatSan continues. To assess mechanisms of water and pollutant transfer from on-site sanitation systems to groundwater in the shallow aquifer of unconsolidated Quaternary sand, PhD student – Abdoulaye Pouye – has established a field laboratory in the unsaturated zone of a suburb of Dakar (Keur Massar). Here, on-site sanitation facilities (squat-toilets) have been replaced and a network of probes (electrical conductivity, temperature, soil moisture) and suction cups (to sample interstitial water) have been installed and tests have been carried out to develop a baseline of measurements before use of squat toilets resumes after the COVID19…

Recent research has identified the natural resilience of groundwater to climate change and our tendency to deplete this invaluable resource. It’s time we understood, valued, and governed groundwater as the vital adaptation to climate change that it is.   Groundwater flowing within the geology beneath our feet is the world’s largest liquid store of freshwater. Its volume in most countries in Africa for example, is estimated to be 10 to 100 times greater than that which flows annually through their rivers, lakes and wetlands. The widespread distribution and inter-annual storage of groundwater play an essential role in sustaining ecosystems and…