GroFutures

In March 2017, piezometer construction began in the Koka Plain, the lowland GroFutures Observatory site in the Upper Awash Basin. A piezometer array comprising a transect of 3 shallow (~20 m depth) piezometers has been completed using traditional, manual drilling techniques. Completed piezometers have been installed with a 4-inch casing and feature screen lengths of 9 to 10 m at depths of ~10 m below ground.  Lithological samples have been collected at every observed change in lithology during drilling. Each monitoring piezometer is “double capped” in an effort to inhibit tampering or vandalism. Work is expected to start shortly on…

The UPGro programme, supported by AfriWatSan & ESPRC, conducted a pan-African capacity-strengthening and knowledge co-production workshop at Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania from the 10th to 12th of February, 2017.  40 participants from 12 countries in Africa took part and analysed multi-decadal, groundwater-level data (“chronicles”) from 9 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Niger, Sénégal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.  Participants comprised PhD students and more experienced researchers (mentors & supervisors) as well as representatives from government ministries and the private sector, and included team members from all 5 UPGro consortium projects GroFutures, BRAVE, Hidden Crisis, GroForGood, and…

GroFutures held its 2nd Annual Workshop at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) in Morogoro, Tanzania from the 13th to the 16th of February 2017. The workshop was opened by SUA’s Deputy Vice Chancellor and was attended by a total of 30 national and international team members from Ethiopia, France, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa and the UK.  The workshop was hosted and organised by the GroFutures team from SUA led by Professor Japhet Kashaigili along with Professor Andrew Tarimo and Dr. Devotha Mosha-Kilave. The workshop reviewed progress in research and explored ways of improving the integration of cross-disciplinary research across the…

Professor Japhet Kashaigili presented recent research from the GroFutures Site Observatory in Tanzania (Makutapora) at the 4th Annual Conference (AWAC 2016) of the Association of Tanzanian Water Suppliers (ATAWAS) held on 8th and 9th November 2016 in Dodoma, Tanzania. Under the theme of “Knowledge, Capacity and Learning in the Water and Sanitation Sector,” the development of water supplies and sanitation as well as the current challenges faced by organisations across Tanzania were discussed by professionals working in water sector including policy makers and those involved water governance. Professor Japhet Kashaigili, based at Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA), presented a paper entitled,…

GroFutures was very active at the 43rd IAH (International Association of Hydrogeologists) Congress, “Groundwater and society: 60 years of IAH” in Montpellier (France) from 25th to 29th September 2016. A range of e-Poster or oral presentations were made and received well by fellow hydrogeologist from Africa and around the world. GroFutures members and research students from Benin, France, Nigeria, South Africa and the UK all got together for an informal meeting to discuss project activities in the Basin Observatories across Africa and enjoyed a dinner together. GroFutures members also exchanged research ideas with fellow researchers and colleagues working on other…

GroFutures  was launched in the transboundary Iullemmeden Basin at a workshop held at Abdou Moumouni University (UAM) of Niamey in Niger on 23rd August 2016. The workshop was opened by the Vice Chancellor, Hon. Professor Amadou Boureima, and welcomed by the Director General of Water Resources in the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation of Niger, Mr. Abdou Moumouni Moussa; Engineer Koné Soungalo representing the Niger Basin Authority; Dr. Oumarou Malam Issa, Country Representative of IRD in Niger; and the Deans of Faculties of Sciences and Agronomy (UAM). The workshop was hosted by the GroFutures team from UAM (Professor Yahaya Nazoumou,…

On April 4th and 5th 2016, members of the GroFutures Team visited the Makutapora Wellfield in central Tanzania to observe up close and with project partners, WamiRuvu Basin Water Office of the Ministry of Water, rare flood conditions that are associated with the 2015-16 El Niño Event and, it is expected, conditions favourable for episodic replenishment of the wellfield by recharge. In advance of the El Niño Event, the GroFutures Team established high-frequency sensors to monitor both surface water and groundwater levels resulting from what was expected to be anomalously heavy rainfall associated with the 2015-16 El Niño Event.  The…

Under the heading “Using groundwater to reduce poverty” the GroFutures Team in Tanzania led by Japhet Kashaigili, Andrew Tarimo and Devotha Mosha hosted the GroFutures Inception Workshop in Iringa on March 31st 2016.  It was opened by the District Commissioner for Iringa, Hon. Richard Kasesela, and was attended by national, basin-level and local stakeholders (listed below) who discussed current groundwater use and management in the Great Ruaha Sub-Catchment of the Rufiji Basin and as well as both proposed and potential groundwater development pathways that might best reduce poverty.  The event was featured on national television news in Tanzania (see clip…

New research by Dr. Scott Jasechko (University of Calgary) and GroFutures Team member, Richard Taylor, published in Environmental Research Letters shows that the intensification of rainfall associated with global warming favours the replenishment of tropical groundwaters. Global warming amplifies extreme rainfall giving rise to fewer but heavier rainfalls. This impact of climate change is particularly strong in the tropics where, by 2050, most of the people on this planet will live. Richard and Scott examined chemical signatures in precipitation and groundwater from 15 stations across the tropics in an effort to trace the relationship between rainfall intensity and groundwater replenishment….

The GroFutures team is working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Water to establish automated, high-frequency monitoring to examine how heavy rains associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) replenish groundwater resources in a small semi-arid basin (Makutapora) in central Tanzania which features a wellfield that supplies the capital city, Dodoma, with safe water. Groundwater withdrawals have risen sharply in recent years and there is considerable uncertainty regarding the sustainability of this supply. The team from Sokoine University of Agriculture (Japhet Kashaigili, PhD student Richard Festo) and UCL (Richard Taylor, PhD Student  David Seddon) are working with the WamiRuvu Basin Water Office…