Regional Project: Sustainable groundwater management in the Lake Chad Basin
Country / Region: Africa / Supraregional
Focal point: Groundwater
Begin of project: April 16, 2007
End of project: December 31, 2022
Status of project: September 12, 2022
Watershed of Lake Chad
Source: BGR
The Lake Chad Basin
The Lake Chad Basin is shared by Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, Algeria, Libya, and Sudan, and includes several transboundary rivers (Chari, Logone, Komandugu). Surface water availability is strongly affected by short- and long-term climatic conditions variability. In addition to the climatic factors, high population growth rate, the construction of dams, and the development of irrigated agriculture in the last four decades have caused the surface area of Lake Chad to shrink from 25.000 km² to 2.500 km² at present. Water scarcity and the reduction of fish stocks trigger food insecurity, migrations, social conflicts and poverty.
The Lake Chad Basin is also one of the largest sedimentary groundwater basins in Africa. It is composed of three main aquifers: the upper Quaternary, the Lower Pliocene and the ‘Continental Terminal’ (Oligocene – Miocene). Since the main source of aquifer recharge is from surface water, the aquifer system is also highly sensitive to climatic changes.
The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC)
The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) was created in 1964 with headquarters in N'Djamena. It has six country members: Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger, and since April 2007, Libya. The commission is responsible for regulating and monitoring the use of water and other natural resources within the Lake Chad basin. However, the LCBC lacks basic information as well as management strategies to fulfil its tasks in a sustainable way. Despite these shortcomings, it is the sole institution with potential to deal with transboundary issues, as it is politically accepted by the riparian states.
Project’s goal:
The project strengthens the availability of hydrogeological data with the LCBC on which basis technical solutions for a sustainable groundwater management are developed and implemented.
Activities of the project:
- Collection of groundwater data
- Training of experts on collection, diagnostic and analysis of groundwater data
- Compilation of thematic maps
- Implementation of a „Managed Aquifer Recharge“ approach
Project contributions:
Literature:
- Factsheet: Sustainable Management of Groundwater Resources in the Lake Chad Basin
- Factsheet: Gestion durable des ressources en eau du Bassin du Lac Tchad
Partner:
The Lake Chad Basin Commission, N'Djamena (Chad Republic)