Mapping Ground Water Access in Two Rural Communes of Burkina Faso

Silvia Díaz-Alcaide,Miguel Martín-Loeches,José Luis Cáceres,Naomi Seijas,Wennegouda Jean-Pierre Sandwidi,Pedro Martínez-Santos

doi:10.3390/w13101356

Silvia Díaz-Alcaide, Miguel Martín-Loeches + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/w13101356

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Abstract

Granting safe water access worldwide is a major objective of the Sustainable Development Goals. Water access is a manifold concept that encompasses collection time, distance from the household, water quality, affordability, and reliability of water sources, among other factors. GIS-based methods can be particularly useful in improving water access estimates, particularly in rural areas of developing countries. Based on an extensive water point database (n = 770), this paper explores the main challenges involved in mapping water access in two rural communes of Burkina Faso. Water access is estimated in terms of coverage per surface area. Coverage is filtered into four distinct categories of improved water sources, namely existing infrastructures, operational infrastructures, permanent infrastructures, and permanent infrastructures that provide safe water. The outcomes suggest that the study area is better endowed with water access than rural Burkina Faso and the remainder of the African continent, although there are important questions regarding groundwater quality. The outcomes highlight the conceptual differences between coverage and access, as well as some of the practical difficulties involved in estimating water access beyond standard ratios. The shortcomings include the absence of continuous monitoring of infrastructure functionality and water quality, as well as water affordability, among others. Enhancing national borehole databases with items aligned with the United Nations’ definition of water access is recommended.

Highlights

Water provision at the household level encompasses drinking water, and water for cooking, personal hygiene, and other domestic uses
Based on data from rural Burkina Faso, we explore the challenges involved in estimating safe water access in rural communities of developing countries, as well as the limitations involved with obtaining reliable field information
Aquifers provide crucial sources of drinking water across sub-Saharan Africa [21,38], where the majority of the population depends on groundwater for domestic supplies and three-quarters of all the groundwater pumped from boreholes or taken from springs is used for domestic purposes [39]

Summary

Introduction

Water provision at the household level encompasses drinking water, and water for cooking, personal hygiene, and other domestic uses Because all of these activities are crucial to leading a life in human dignity, and because water is key to food security, poverty alleviation, and health, having access to water is recognized as a human right in itself, and as a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights [1,2]. Affordability, reliability, and water quality play a crucial role in ensuring that individuals have adequate access to water [3]. Monitoring these variables is time consuming and logistically complicated, in the case of rural communities of non-industrialized countries [4]. A maximum distance of 500 m from the household to the nearest water point and a queueing time of no more than 30 min are typically recommended in humanitarian charters [3], national water supply standards tend to be more stringent [5]

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