Groundwater & Climate in Africa - an international conference

Session topics

Download the final programme (PDF 300kb) (12th June 2008)

The programme for the conference will be arranged around the following five sessions*:

1. Impact of climate variability and change on groundwater-based livelihoods
2. Impact of climate variability and change on groundwater and groundwater-fed ecosystems
3. Monitoring and modelling groundwater use and replenishment
4. Estimation of groundwater resources and demand under a changing climate
5. Groundwater management in a) sub-Saharan Africa and b) semi-arid/arid Africa

* Presentations of case studies from outside Africa are welcome. Presenters are encouraged, however, to articulate clearly the generic aspects of their study that might inform research and policy in Africa.

1. Impact of climate variability and change on groundwater-based livelihoods
   This session will explore the susceptibility of groundwater-fed water supplies in both rural and urban areas to climate variability and change, and the ability of communities to adapt to changing groundwater availability. As groundwater is the primary source of safe water for dispersed rural communities and low-cost urban water supplies in Africa, this session will also invite papers specifically exploring methods of overcoming climate variability and change in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goal of halving, by the year 2015, the proportion of people who are unable to reach or afford safe drinking water.
2. Impact of climate variability and change on groundwater and groundwater-fed ecosystems
   This session will seek to improve the currently limited understanding of how climate variability and change affect: (1) groundwater storage; (2) interactions between groundwater and surface waters including lakes, river and wetlands; and (3) ecosystem services provided by these aquatic habitats. Papers based on contemporary field investigations and historical, palaeohydrological studies are particularly welcome.
3. Monitoring and modelling groundwater use and replenishment
   This session will seek to address the critical shortfall in Africa of sustained monitoring of hydrogeological parameters (e.g., groundwater levels, abstraction) as well as the storage and use of monitoring data that are presently available. Papers that discuss: (1) the design, construction and maintenance (e.g., logistical, financial) of monitoring networks, (2) design and management of databases, and (3) case studies that employ monitoring data and model groundwater use and/or recharge are particularly welcome.
4. Estimation of groundwater resources and demand under a changing climate
   This session will examine current methods of estimating groundwater resources and demand under conditions of climate variability and change in the wide range of environments (tropical humid, semi-arid, arid) that occur in Africa. A key focus of this session will be the assessment of uncertainty not only in model predictions of climate variability and change but also in hydrological models that are driven by climate data. This session also invites papers that apply new methods and insight into the estimation of groundwater resources (e.g., satellite datasets such as GRACE) as well as current and projected water usage for domestic, agricultural and industrial purposes.
5. Groundwater management in a) sub-Saharan Africa and b) semi-arid/arid Africa
   This session will discuss groundwater management strategies under conditions of variable climate and considerable hydrological uncertainty. Papers that explore: (1) new strategies for improving the protection (e.g. vulnerability of sources to heavy-rainfall events) and sustainability of groundwater discharges, and (2) the relationship between user communities and both local and national management and regulatory agencies are particularly welcome.