scholarly journals Institutional Feasibility of Managed Aquifer Recharge in Northeast Ghana

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Kwoyiga ◽  
Catalin Stefan

As part of global efforts to address the challenges that are confronting groundwater for various purposes (including irrigation), engineering methods such as Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) have been adopted. This wave of MAR has engulfed some parts of Northern Ghana, characterized by insufficient groundwater for dry-season irrigation. Inspired by the strides of these schemes, the paper assesses the institutional feasibility of MAR methods in the Atankwidi catchment where dry-season farmers may lose their source of livelihood due to limited access to groundwater. We used both primary and secondary data, together with policy documents, to address the following questions: (i) What provisions and impacts formal government institutions had for MAR, and; (ii) what catchment-level institutions exist which may influence MAR. The results show that formal government institutions do not prohibit the adoption of MAR in the country. Among these institutions, it is realized that laws/legislative instruments provide sufficient information and support for MAR than policies and administrative agencies. Moreover, catchment-level institutions which are informal in the form of taboos, rules, norms, traditions, and practices, together with local knowledge play a significant role as far as groundwater issues in the catchment are concerned, and are important for the adoption of MAR methods.

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Kwoyiga ◽  
Catalin Stefan

The use of groundwater resources for dry season irrigation has gained currency in Ghana. The north-east of the country has seen the cultivation of vegetables using groundwater from shallow aquifers; an emerging livelihood activity which lessens food insecurity and stems the tide of rural–urban migration. This practice in northern Ghana is deeply rooted in local knowledge. Using the Atankwidi catchment, this paper examines the role of local knowledge in understanding and exploiting groundwater for irrigation. A qualitative approach was used which allowed for in-depth catchment-level investigations, using group discussions, key informant interviews and informal discussions with irrigators, traditional leaders, earth priests, men, and women. Evidence from analysis revealed that local knowledge enabled farmers to locate groundwater points and determine the source and timing of groundwater recharge. Traditional communities are also able to identify the period for constructing wells. In addition, local knowledge enabled farmers to adopt strategies of conjunctively using groundwater with alternative water to cope with insufficient groundwater resources. We argue that local knowledge serves as a useful tool in sustaining dry season irrigation despite the challenges of a lack of government support and threats of global change.


Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Knapton ◽  
Declan Page ◽  
Joanne Vanderzalm ◽  
Dennis Gonzalez ◽  
Karen Barry ◽  
...  

Population growth and increased irrigation demand have caused a decline in groundwater levels that limit water supply in the Darwin rural area. Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) is a practical solution that can be adopted to augment stressed groundwater systems and subsequently increase the security of water supply. Aquifer storage capacity is considered to be the primary constraint to MAR where unconfined dolostone aquifers rapidly recharge during the tropical, wet season and drain again in the dry season. As a result, there is a general understanding that aquifers of this nature recharge to full capacity each wet season. However, the aquifer storage capacity and the potential for niche opportunities for MAR to alleviate declining groundwater levels has not previously been examined. This paper uses the Darwin rural area’s Proterozoic Koolpinyah Dolostone aquifer and the existing Koolpinyah Groundwater System to evaluate the prospects of MAR using both infiltration and injection techniques. Direct injection wells in an aquifer storage transfer and recovery (ASTR) scheme were favoured in this area, as injection wells occupy a smaller surface footprint than infiltration basins. This assessment suggested MAR during the early to mid-dry season could alleviate the impact of the dry season decline in groundwater levels in the Darwin rural area. The use of a larger aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) system (5,000,000 m3/year) was also assessed as a potentially viable technical solution in the northern part of the aquifer where it is understood to be confined. The ASR scheme could potentially be scaleable to augment the urban water system and provide strategic long-term storage. Consideration must also be given not only to the strategic positioning of the ASR water bank, but also to the hydrogeology of the aquifers in which the systems would be developed. Not all locations or aquifer systems can successfully support a strategic storage ASR system. Scheme-scale feasibility assessment of an ASR water bank is required. The study reported here is an early phase of a series of investigations that would typically be required to demonstrate the viability of any proposal to apply MAR to increase the reliability of conjunctive groundwater and surface water supplies in stressed water resources systems. It focusses on assessing suitable storage areas in a lateritic aquifer.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (9) ◽  
pp. 4639-4645
Author(s):  
Troy Walker ◽  
Andrew Newbold ◽  
Lauren Zuravnsky ◽  
Charles Bott ◽  
Germano Salazar-Benites ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 (9) ◽  
pp. 4635-4638
Author(s):  
Tyler Nading ◽  
Larry Schimmoller ◽  
Germano Salazar-Benites ◽  
Charles Bott ◽  
Jamie Mitchell ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 246 ◽  
pp. 106659
Author(s):  
Sunil Kumar Jha ◽  
Vinay Kumar Mishra ◽  
Chhedi Lal Verma ◽  
Navneet Sharma ◽  
Alok Kumar Sikka ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 506
Author(s):  
Su-Hsin Lee ◽  
Yin-Jen Chen

Indigenous peoples often face significant vulnerabilities to climate risks, yet the capacity of a social-ecological system (SES) to resilience is abstracted from indigenous and local knowledge. This research explored how the Tayal people in the Wulai tribes located in typhoon disaster areas along Nanshi River used indigenous knowledge as tribal resilience. It applied empirical analysis from secondary data on disaster relief and in-depth interviews, demonstrating how indigenous people’s endogenous actions helped during post-disaster reconstructing. With the intertwined concepts of indigenous knowledge, SESs, and tribes’ cooperation, the result presented the endogenous actions for tribal resilience. In addition, indigenous knowledge is instigated by the Qutux Niqan of mutual assistance and symbiosis among the Wulai tribes, and there is a need to build joint cooperation through local residence, indigenous people living outside of their tribes, and religious or social groups. The findings of tribal resilience after a typhoon disaster of co-production in the Wulai, Lahaw, and Fushan tribes include the importance of historical context, how indigenous people turn to their local knowledge rather than just only participating in disaster relief, and how they produce indigenous tourism for indigenous knowledge inheritance. The paper contributes to contemporary tribal resilience research as well as cooperation actions among tribes through indigenous knowledge, all of which exhibit social, nature, and economy resilience from their own indigenous knowledge to address the possibility of governance and disaster adaptation.


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