North Africa has high groundwater storage, low water recharge; sub-Saharan Africa has the opposite, a new survey has revealedFoggara is a water management system in North African countries in which water from an underground aquifer is brought to the surface through channels. Photo: WikipediaNorth and sub-Saharan Africa are the complete opposites of each other as far as groundwater storage and recharge are concerned, a new survey has shown. North African countries with little rainfall, including Algeria, Egypt and Libya have considerable groundwater storage but very low recharge rates. The study estimated that the long-term groundwater recharge in Africa was approximately 15,000 cubic kilometers per decade — two per cent of the estimated groundwater storage across the African continent. The findings of the survey on the groundwater recharge rates in Africa could be used for refining hydrological models on a global scale, the scientists said.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 21, 2021 13:07 UTC