Abstract
Groundwater represents an essential resource in sub-Saharan Africa, where several hundred million people rely on aquifers for domestic supply. This paper presents a method to map groundwater potential in the Republic of Mali based on a spatially-distributed database of 26,040 boreholes. The database includes exhaustive information on key parameters such as borehole location, success rate of borehole production, depth, yield, static groundwater level or water quality. Representative variables were classified and interpreted jointly to develop a groundwater potential index for each of the 703 communes in Mali. This provides a methodological novelty because groundwater potential studies typically rely on indirect indicators such as lineaments, slope, soil moisture and landforms. Also, such large borehole databases have seldom been used to estimate groundwater potential. The highest indexes were obtained for the areas in and around the River Niger’s Inner Delta, including southern Tombouctou and the central parts of the Ségou and Mopti Regions. The lower Precambrian formations, which include the country’s thoroughly populated southern plateau, had moderate scores. The lowest groundwater potential was found in the northern part of the Kayes and Koulikoro Regions, as well as in the entire region of Kidal. By providing results at the commune scale, these outcomes show that groundwater potential across the country’s geological and hydrogeological units can be highly variable, and that local and regional-scale information may be useful for groundwater management purposes. These results are policy-relevant in a context of rapid change and population growth, where groundwater resources can be expected to be increasingly relied upon in the coming years.
Highlights
Groundwater resources underpin the daily existence of 300 million people in sub-SaharanAfrica [1]
Aquifers provide a reliable source of freshwater during dry spells, in regions subject to monsoon-like climates, where rainfall and surface water may be absent for several months at a time. This is the case in the Republic of Mali, where groundwater is by far the main source of drinking water supply
The purpose of this paper is to explore a method to map groundwater potential based on a large country-wide database of 26,040 boreholes
Summary
Groundwater resources underpin the daily existence of 300 million people in sub-SaharanAfrica [1]. Aquifers provide a reliable source of freshwater during dry spells, in regions subject to monsoon-like climates, where rainfall and surface water may be absent for several months at a time. This is the case in the Republic of Mali, where groundwater is by far the main source of drinking water supply. This, coupled with population growth and irrigation development, suggests that further pressure will be placed on aquifer systems across the country In this context, approaches that add to the existing knowledge about groundwater reserves are necessary
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