End of water woes in Turkana after don makes new discovery

Turkana residents moving with their Camels to parts of Uganda looking for a drop of water on Sunday March 21, 2021 due to persistent drought. [Bakari Ang'ela, Standard]

Turkana residents are elated after the discovery that the Lotikipi Basin aquifer in Turkana contains freshwater.

Climate change and water resource expert and the University of Nairobi (UoN) lecturer, Prof Gilbert Ouma dismissed claims that the entire aquifer was saline and unfit for human use.

Prof Ouma said the water quality index map for the Napuu aquifer in Lodwar, recently developed by researchers, reveals that some pockets of the entire aquifer contain freshwater.    

“There is reason to believe that we have pockets of non-saline water existing at the Lotikipi aquifer and this can be proven by a thorough water quality analysis of different sections of the aquifer,” Prof Ouma explained.

Two aquifers – the Lotikipi Basin Aquifer and the Lodwar Basin Aquifer – were identified using advanced satellite exploration technology.

Their existence was then confirmed by drilling conducted by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

According to water experts, the technology combines remote sensing, seismic and conventional groundwater information to explore and map groundwater occurrence over large areas in short periods of time.

Ouma said there is hope at the end of the tunnel for Turkana to explore the existing aquifer to end perennial water scarcity in the region.

 “Three additional aquifers have also been identified in other parts of Turkana but have not yet been confirmed by drilling and would also need to be assessed using complementary techniques. More research will need to be done to enable a more accurate assessment of the aquifers,” he said.

County Executive for Water Services Vincent Parlor said there was a need to adopt a scientific evidence-based approach to develop potential water infrastructure in the region.

“The use of an evidence-based approach to inform policy and practice in revamping the water sector in Turkana was already paying off,” Parlor said.