AQUIFERS PROGRAMME

Water resources of the major sahelo-saharan aquifers: An opportunity for Africa

In the temperate and intertropical regions, the surface aquifer reserves play a regulatory role of special importance in managing renewable groundwaters. In the arid and semi-arid regions, where these resources are scarce and irregular, groundwater reserves, quite abundant in some places, are economically important. These reserves are limited in the long term but have the advantage of being unaffected by the vagaries of climate. Drawing on them can make up for the shortage of renewable waters, especially during droughts. But these waters risk being depleted if rashly harvested by countries in the zone.

Through its "Aquifers of the Major Basins" Programme, OSS is providing a framework for scientific and technical dialogue designed to favour the updating and harmonisation of knowledge needed in the preparation of efficient management strategies.

The OSS zone is essentially composed of:

• The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (Libya, Egypt, Sudan and Chad). OSS has provided these countries with a synthesis of scientific work done by the University of Berlin. A project similar to the one for the NWSAS is being conducted together with CEDARE.
• The North-Western Sahara Aquifer System.
• The Lake Chad Basin (Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Nigeria).
• The lllumenden Basin (Niger, Mali, Algeria).
• The Taoudéni Basin (Mali, Mauritania, Algeria).
• The Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin (Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, The Gambia).
  

OSS, together with these countries, has drawn up basin monographs.

This initiative is part of an integrated desertification control approach seen from the angle of sustainable development and aims to:

• promote "basin awareness" that favours rational joint management of shared water resources;
• encourage the countries to implement community management tools and strategies in order to optimise resource utilisation and guarantee conditions required for food security;
• establish "basin observatories”".