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Vanclooster_Ouedraogo_policy_brief_avr2020.pdf
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Acknowledging the role of groundwater is paramount to successfully implementing the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)(Conti. 2016). With growing population, Africa needs more food and must secure the water and energy need to ensure its production at the same time as good quality water resources are becoming scarcer. Groundwater already does, and will increasingly play a crucial role in the fulfillment of the SDG for Africa and the African water vision towards poverty alleviation, socio-economic development, regional cooperation and environmental protection. Its role in supplying water services to communities is of strategic importance, with 75 percent of people served by groundwater for drinking (UNEP,2010). Despite the strategic role of groundwater for livelihood support in Africa, it has remained a poorly understood and managed resource. As a result, African groundwater resources (GW) are increasingly exposed to overexploitation and contamination threats. This hampers sustainable groundwater service delivery and the meeting of the SDG6 on freshwater. Indeed, the proportion of the population having access to save drinking water is one of the indicators for monitoring SDG6. Hence, the evaluation of this indicator for African countries strongly relies on data of the groundwater status. Yet the status of GW is difficult to assess, in particular with respect to water quality. Little is known about the spatial and temporal distribution of groundwater pollution at the continental scale in Africa. We addressed this significant knowledge gap about groundwater vulnerability to pollution in Africa by developing methods for assessing groundwater pollution risk at the African scale. Because, the dynamic behaviour of groundwater pollution could already serve as a guideline for planners and decision-makers. The presented risk mapping procedure allows contributing to the monitoring of SDG6 for African countries and deploying strategies that aim protecting drinking water resources.
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Ouedraogo, I., Girard, A., Jonard, F., Alonso, A., & Vanclooster, M. (2020). Dynamic assessment of groundwater vulnerability for pollution at the African scale: A possible contribution to the monitoring of SDG 6. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/120206