Invisible groundwater contributes to climate change, says Awokola
A Water Engineer, Prof O.S Awokola has revealed that invisible groundwater resources are under increasing pressure globally due to human activities and climate change, adding that response to this due to limited awareness of the importance of ground water
Penpushing reports that, Awokola made this known in his remarks at the 2022 World Water Day held in Abeokuta, Ogun State Capital, adding that, due to diversity and complexity of issues, it is often difficult to recognize a role of groundwater and adequately incorporate it in a decision-making process.
‘United Nations agencies and programmes, together with their international partners, deal with many issues that involve groundwater: from wetlands to food production, from sanitation to climate change’, he pointed out
The Engineer noted that groundwater provides almost half of all drinking water worldwide, stressing that about 40% of water for irrigated agriculture and about 1/3 of water supply required for industry.
Penpushing further reports that, Awokola emphasized that, it sustains ecosystems, maintains the base-flow of rivers and prevents land subsidence and seawater intrusion, adding that .groundwater is an important part of climate change adaptation and is often a solution for people without access to safe water.
‘Ground drinking groundwater provides almost half of all water worldwide, about 40% of water for irrigated agriculture and about 1/3 of water supply required for industry. It sustains ecosystems, maintains the base-flow of rivers and prevents land subsidence and seawater intrusion’, he stated.
‘Groundwater is an important part of climate change adaptation and is often a solution for people without access to safe water. Regardless of their importance and of evident threats – we still do not know sufficient about a state and current trends of the World’s groundwater resources’, Awokola added.
‘Outlining who is doing what – when it comes to groundwater – helps to better understand connections of groundwater with health, migrations, tourisms, biodiversity, and many other vital segments of our lives’, he said.
Penpushing also reports that, he said groundwater is a key resource for achievement of the United Nations(UN) Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030 but noted that it is still weakly conceptualized in the Sustainable Development Goal) SDG 6 indicators or insufficiently known to provide a reliable indicator value.
‘Sustainable Development Goal 6 is about ‘clean water and sanitation for all. Professional assessment of groundwater status, trends and risks is required to interpret the state/ condition of the groundwater resources, whose sustainability is essential for achievement of SDG-6 Targets’.
The Water Engineer pointed out that, beside Sustainable Development Goal (SDG-6), groundwater directly contributes to poverty eradication, food security, gender equality, sustainability of cities and human settlement, combating climate change and protecting terrestrial ecosystems.
‘Groundwater is that portion of the water beneath the surface of the earth that can be collected with wells, tunnels or that flows naturally to the earth’s surface via seeps or springs. Groundwater bearing formation, sufficiently permeable to transmit and yield water in usable quantities. Unconsolidated sand and gravel are the best formation of aquifer i.e. sedimentary rocks are best aquifer’.
There are 2 types Confined and unconfined aquifer. Basic Characteristics of soils knowledge is required. The theory of groundwater movement has been described in text books, but little attention has been given to the practical aspects of finding or measuring groundwater’.
‘The basic measurement for assessing groundwater is the depth of the water table in unconfined aquifers or the position of the piezometric surface in confined aquifers. According to the nature of the terrain, penetration of the ground can be made by methods ranging from hand-dug wells in unconsolidated surface deposits to the high-speed drilling of deep boreholes. The latter are usually employed for the exploitation of confined aquifers at great depths’, he said.
‘In localities where every village or separate farmstead had its own well-water supply, there are often disused wells that can be made available for water-table measurements. Hydro-geologists assemble well data from all possible sources to obtain knowledge of the groundwater behaviour.
Penpushing reports that, he explained that, there is need for a concerted effort by the stakeholders for data collection in the states, stressing that major ways groundwater can be contaminated by chemicals, bacteria or saltwater.
‘Surface Contamination Subsurface Contamination Landfills and Waste Disposal Atmospheric Contamination Saltwater Contamination. Groundwater contamination can last for years and be difficult and expensive to clean up. Pollution prevention is the key’.
The Engineer called on stakeholders at the ways they can help, and gave some highlights as properly dispose of all waste; and avoid dump of chemicals down drains or on the ground test underground fuel oil tanks for leaks, stressing that if possible, replace them above ground safely store all chemicals and fuels minimize the use of chemicals.
‘Have on-site septic systems pumped and inspected every five years. Examine on-site wells and surrounding land areas; test wells as often as pollution risk demands , conduct an environmental audit, develop a pollution prevention plan, regularly inspect high risk areas and devise an emergency response plan
Penpushing further reports that, he noted that building a case for invisible groundwater remains a very challenging task, and called for improve the knowledge on groundwater resources, especially their status/change.
‘Improve information and knowledge sharing: climate change and human impact on groundwater resources do not stop at administrative borders. The practitioners must follow the Contract Documents to the letters. Borehole siting- carrying out geophysical Survey. Borehole construction, completion, development, backfilling and surface grouting
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