Groundwater Resources in Africa, Essay Example

Introduction

The South African continent is facing one the worst water crisis in history. The natural resources for water have become limited while the remaining supply. The purpose of the report is to analyze the environmental impact of the water provisions in South Africa. The report will analyze the different models of water provisions. The South African water supply will be compared to the Australian water supply issues. The water provisions that will be compared are the “Groundwater Resources” and the Aquifer Storage.” The basic requirements that will be consider are the disadvantages of advantages of each water provision approach.

Background

South African is one the most land rich countries in the world with landscapes, people, and history along with a diverse culture. This country is located at the top of the African continent near Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana and Mozambique (EduSouthAfrica.com 1). The South African region is spread over 4% of the entire continents landmass that is five times bigger that the Great Britain country (2). South Africa has a hot climate most days of the year with the natural environment of hot weather with thunderstorms. The winters are normally dry and the days are long and hot (SouthAfrica.info 2). The South Africa Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 4.10 percent in the last quarter of 2014. (Trading Economics 1). The poverty levels for South Africa have reached epic proportions reaching almost 57% of the population living in poverty. The majority of the poverty is in the region of Western Cape (SARPN-South Africa Regional Poverty Network 1). The history of water shortage in Africa can be traced back to 1994, which the rural areas of South Africa does not have water. Historically, over 5 million people lack access to water and 15 million-lack access to basic sanitation (The Water Project 1). The current methods of water provision are South Africa is “Groundwater Resources and “Aquifer Storage.” These water provisions models are mostly applied in the Southern region of South Africa. The South African country has several problems with the water supply. The first issue is the fresh water supply has been exhausted as well as the groundwater. The second problem is the poor land management that has led to utilizing the best resources agriculture, which has limited natural vegetation. The third problem is the overfishing that has led to several species facing extinction (Panda.org 3).

Water Provisions Methods  

The first method is Groundwater Provision. The Groundwater Provision in utilizes large underground water to adapt to the climate changes. In order to meet the supply and demand of the South African continent is to utilize the largest groundwater volumes in North Africa cities of Libya, Sudan, and Algeria (Aljazeera 2). This method could address the immediate need for rural parts of Africa that have no water access. The second method is Aquifer Storage. The Aquifer Storage is called the sand water storage provisions, which stop evaporation losses of the water, and it decreases downstream erosions. It improves the quality of the water streaming into the aquifers (Fitzsimons 2). The third method is Water Harvesting. The Water Harvesting method includes South Africa collaborating with and city regions to develop runoff-harvesting technology to capture rainwater. The rain will be captured while storing the water in underground water reserve tanks for massive storage space (figure 3).

Presentation Options

The Groundwater method involves drilling deep boreholes in the ground costing about $130,000 per hole. The land is vast covering Africa that will include the aquifers to house the water. The average number of holes that is needed in the region to help the Africans water supply is a rather inexpensive solution than some other water provisions methods. The advantages of the aquifers are the ability to adapt to the land. The groundwater holes can be built based on the various depths of the land. The closer the aquifer to the ground the more the technology can capture the rainwater as well. The aquifer method does not disrupt the environment or ecological surroundings. South African aquifer method is one the best methods because of its massive underground storage capacity (fig 2) (Amsha Africa Foundation 1). The Aquifer method could be expensive for the technology and maintenance, which would cost millions.

 Evaluation of Options

The groundwater method is one of the most inexpensive solution because the drilling of the holes and the maintenance is much cheaper than building aquifer plants. The groundwater method allows the city to afford the groundwater solution provides the fastest solution because Africa has much of the population that is either dying from the lack of water or from the polluted water. The aquifer solution takes time and money to build the plant including the maintenance and recharge cost to maintain the facility and water. The cities can maintain their own budgets to ensure the regions without water receive support. The aquifer method utilizes plants will be expensive solutions for each city of the region. The large projects will be a burden on the country, government and the people of South Africa that are waiting on immediate state of emergency water needs. The example of the massive cost of aquifers is the Austrian cost for aquifer storage costs. The maintenance includes reducing water evaporation, leakage, and recharge methods. The Austrian government is paying between $62 million and $174 million; however, Austria even noted that the groundwater method is less expensive (Khan, Mushtaq, Hanjra & Schaeffer 1). The advantages of the groundwater and aquifer methods are worth it for a country like Africa that has millions of people without water. In comparison, to a country that might not have the same vast resources as Africa the more expensive solution may not be an option. South Africa has the one the richest lands that include natural resources of gold, salt, iron, petroleum, silver, and uranium. There are countries that have become depleted in ore; however, South Africa is one the richest in ores in the world. It is clear that South Africa can afford both the aquifer and groundwater solutions.

References

Aljazeera.Study Reveals Groundwater Resources in Africa. (2012). Web 5 April 2015

Amsha Africa Foundation. Runoff RainWater Harvesting in Rural Africa. (2010). Web 4 April 2015

Dennis, I. & Dennis, R. Climate change vulnerability index for South Africa Aquifers. Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management. Water SA vol. 38, n3, Pretoria. (2012). Web 5 April 2015

EdSouthAfrica.Facts and Information about South Africa. (2009). Web 5 April 2015

Fitzsimons, African Aquifer Called Huge in Groundbreaking Water Study. (2012). Web 5 April 2015

Panda. West Africa: Marine: Off the Coast. (2015). Web 5 April 2015

SARPN-Southern Africa Regional Poverty Network. Fact Sheet: Poverty in South Africa. (2004). Web 5 April 2015

South Africa. South Africa: Brand South Africa’s Information Gateway to South Africa: South Africa weather and climate. (2013). Web 5 April 2015

Shahbaz,K,Mushtaq,S,Hanjra,M.& Schaffer,J.Estimating potential costs  and gains  from an aquifer storage and recovery program in Australia. Agriculture Water Management. Volume 95, Issue 4.pages 477-488. (2008). Web April 5 2015.

The Water Project. Water Crisis-South Africa. (2015). Web 5 April 2015

Trading Economic. South Africa GDP Growth Rate 1). 2015. Web 5 April 2015

Water Supply and Sanitation South Africa. An AMCOW Country Status Overview. (2011). Web 5 April