Here’s how groundwater can prevent drought emergencies in rural Ethiopian communities.

Ethiopia is highly vulnerable to drought, over the last 55 years it has experienced 15 severe droughts that have affected almost 70 million people. It faces a worsening crisis, with several studies expecting that communities will experience more frequent and extreme droughts. Historically, responses to these events have been reactive. However, MacAllister (2020) reports that one way to improve drought resilience is to develop communal groundwater infrastructure (e.g. Figure 1) in dispersed rural communities. 

Figure 1. Community hand pump in Ethiopia. Source: (UNICEF, 2020) 

The regional groundwater resource potential in Ethiopia is vast and estimates suggest it could be more than 40 billion cubic metres. It is more suitable than surface water since it has a slow response to climate variability and requires less treatment. Furthermore, Worqlul et al. (2017) report that it's widely available across most major Ethiopian river basins and crucially the depth of groundwater is shallow making it easier to extract. Clearly, there is an abundance of water. So why, does Ethiopia often suffer harsh droughts? 

Although groundwater storage is vast at a regional scale, local groundwater availability in rural Ethiopian communities can be limited by aquifer conditions and groundwater technologies. In these communities, water supply is decentralised and communal sources are maintained by locals. During droughts, water technologies are often under immense stress, which affects the level of service to communities that depend on them (Howard et al. 2016). Furthermore, evidence shows that maintaining access during dry periods can be challenging because communities often lack the capacity to repair problems. In Kenya, a recent study found that drought resilience in 2016 was reduced because 35% of rural water pumps were broken before the crisis. It is therefore clear rather than focusing on building more water supply infrastructure in drought-prone rural areas, it is perhaps more important to direct limited financial resources into improving existing technologies (MacDonald et al. 2019). 

 

Climate-resilient: Supporting Existing Infrastructure 

As communal hand-pumped and motorised boreholes infrastructure already exists in rural Ethiopian communities, MacAllister (2020) reports that developing pre-existing boreholes is the best way to build drought-resilience. This is in part due to their ability to capture deeper groundwater of longer residence times. These findings are also complemented by  MacDonald et al. (2019), who found that although boreholes are more reliable, currently only 50% of hand pumps are fully functional in Ethiopia. Consequently, this research reinforces the need for improved infrastructure, monitoring and maintenance, to reduce water-system downtime during times of drought. These studies directly contrast more complex technologies such as on-plot piped water supplies. Although Shaheed et al. (2013) report that on-plot water supplies can bring sanitation benefits, they also risk leaving the most vulnerable and remote communities unserved. Carrard et al. (2019) suggest that due to their complexity, piped water services struggle to maintain functionality levels during droughts. Furthermore, often such schemes are focused on high-income households forcing rural communities to rely on hand-dug-wells and surface water sources.   Problematically, these sources offer little resilience to drought and are vulnerable to contamination. 

Improving Monitoring and Maintenance 

A recurring theme throughout this blog series has been the importance of robust monitoring and management systems. For improved water access through boreholes, it's essential. In solving this issue, I want to draw on a recent study from Rwanda. Here, they used solar-powered electronic sensors (Figure 2) to remotely monitor handpumps. The data was then collated and analysed to reduce repair intervals. Despite some challenges over the added cost of these technologies, the study saw a reduction in water-system downtime from 200 to 20 days. If similar efforts are undertaken in Ethiopia, drought resilience could be improved dramatically. 

Figure 2. Cellular instrumentation on handpumps to improve service delivery in rural Rwandan communities. Source: (Nagel et al. 2015)

Final Thoughts. 

In theory, Ethiopia has relatively sufficient groundwater resources, yet it is prone to droughts. As climate extremes worsen, prioritising access to groundwater via improved hand-pumped and motorised boreholes is an excellent way to improve access to secure water through extended dry seasons. This requires access to up to date information on water point failures and investments in maintenance to improve functionality. If local communities, governments, and international donors collaborate successfully, drought-driven emergencies could be averted.