reserves, and has also been used to identify
underground water resources for refugee
camps in Angola, Afghanistan, Chad, Iraq and
the Darfur region of Sudan. The technology
is not cheap. Gachet has volunteered his time
on the ground, but it cost $50,000 to generate
the maps in Angola.
While this may sound like a universal remedy
to those lacking water on the continent and
around the world - 1.1 billion people around
the globe do not have access to a clean water
source – unfortunately it is not that simple
(is anything ever?). Because drilling a well
can cost from $6,000 to $500,000, depending
on where you want to drill it, some areas
where the water may be located are extremely
remote and all equipment would have to
transported in. The technology should prove
to be very valuable as it “increases the drilling
success rate to 75 - 95%.” It is estimated that
previously used techniques used to locate
wells had about a 50% success rate. But,
retrieving the water and distributing it to
the citizens who so desperately need it, and
properly managing the effort and the use
of the precious resource, will prove to be
extremely challenging. The technology may
be able to find water, but getting it to where it
is needed will be difficult because of the high
cost and complexities of building the needed
infrastructure - digging trenches, laying pipes,
and building water and sewage treatment
plants. Politics are at least as big an obstacle
as logistics and cost. One doesn’t have to
look far to read about the corruption, uneven
distribution of wealth and resources, protests
and resulting atrocities against the protesters
and citizens by the local governments across
the continent. The fact that the water is
there could be a game changer, but not until
investments are made in ensuring water
access, improving the efficiency of water
use, maintaining water systems and the
infrastructure used to run them (electricity)
will there be a world of sustainable, equitable
and productive water consumption.
Winter 2014 |
NCRWA.COM
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