Monitoring the impact of the 2015/16 El Nino on rural water insecurity in Ethiopia: learning lessons for climate resilience
Lead Research Organisation:
British Geological Survey
Department Name: Groundwater
Abstract
The developing drought in Ethiopia is linked to the ongoing strong 2015-2016 El Niño event and is leading to widespread food and water insecurity in the region, particularly for the large numbers of people living in remote rural areas. Whilst there is a well-developed national and international response to food insecurity, the failure of local springs and wells, the primary source of water in these areas, has caught many off guard, with growing evidence that migration is driven by water shortage. Research in east Africa during and since the last major El Niño drought in the late 1997/98, indicates that access to reliable groundwater sources is a major contributory factor to improving livelihood resilience, particularly of the poorest.
This current El Niño-related drought in Ethiopia, provides an important research opportunity to: (i) gather robust evidence of the behaviour under stress of shallow groundwater sources (mountain springs, valley springs, wells, boreholes); (ii) monitor the timing, magnitude and contamination issues associated with recovery; and (iii) assess the coping strategies developed by family groups and communities as water points fail. Methods developed since the last major El Niño event make this possible, for example: robust inexpensive sensors for continuously measuring groundwater levels, novel rapid methods for indicating pathogen contamination and a new suite of groundwater residence time indicators.
With this new evidence it will be possible to ensure vulnerable communities become more resilient to future droughts by: identifying resilient designs of water point; targeting mapping efforts to areas to identify vulnerable areas, and contributing to the design of early warning systems. The research brings together an experienced team from BGS, ODI, and AAU, all of whom are currently working in Ethiopia, supported by partners in the meteorological department at the University of Reading and various implementation partners in Ethiopia.
This current El Niño-related drought in Ethiopia, provides an important research opportunity to: (i) gather robust evidence of the behaviour under stress of shallow groundwater sources (mountain springs, valley springs, wells, boreholes); (ii) monitor the timing, magnitude and contamination issues associated with recovery; and (iii) assess the coping strategies developed by family groups and communities as water points fail. Methods developed since the last major El Niño event make this possible, for example: robust inexpensive sensors for continuously measuring groundwater levels, novel rapid methods for indicating pathogen contamination and a new suite of groundwater residence time indicators.
With this new evidence it will be possible to ensure vulnerable communities become more resilient to future droughts by: identifying resilient designs of water point; targeting mapping efforts to areas to identify vulnerable areas, and contributing to the design of early warning systems. The research brings together an experienced team from BGS, ODI, and AAU, all of whom are currently working in Ethiopia, supported by partners in the meteorological department at the University of Reading and various implementation partners in Ethiopia.
Planned Impact
Not required
Publications
MacDonald A
(2019)
Groundwater and resilience to drought in the Ethiopian highlands
in Environmental Research Letters
MacAllister DJ
(2020)
Why drought programmes in Ethiopia should support communal access to groundwater
in The Conversation
MacDonald A
(2021)
GROUNDWATER, SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS AND EQUITABLE GROWTH
Upton K
(2021)
Geosciences and the Sustainable Development Goals
| Description | By monitoring the performance of different types of water supply during drought and carrying out detailed discussions with communities affected by the 2015/16 El Nino drought we have discovered: (1) different types of water supply are more reliable during droughts, with boreholes much more reliable than springs and hand dug wells; (2) that some communities without a reliable water supply were travelling more 12 hours to collect a small amount of water during the peak of the drought with considerable impacts on health, nutrition, school attendance, farming activities and increased conflict and migration; (3) the areas affected by drought were generally those that were water insecure in a normal year, and therefore could be identified and mitigation measures put in place. |
| Exploitation Route | UNICEF and the Ministry of Water and Environment in Ethiopia are very interested in the results and we are discussing how it may affect the type of water supplied they promote for drought prone areas. Also FCDO has a new infrastructure programme in Ethiopia for rural water supply and the results of the work are being used by them to help inform this new programme. In addition we have been invited by UNICEF to discuss these results with water professionals in the neighbouring country of Eritrea, to help build drought resilience into future water infrastructure. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| URL | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab282f |
| Description | The results from the project are being used by the Ethiopian Government and UNICEF to help design future resilient water supply infrastructure. The project co-I Seifu Kebede and his team in Addis Ababa University are in regular contact with the ministry and invited to share the results at appropriate sector meetings. The results are also being used by UNICEF to help inform future practice in Eritrea,. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| Impact Types | Policy & public services |
| Description | Citation in UN Water Report 2022 |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Impact | The document has submited recommendation to the UN Water Congress on howe to implment strategies for using groundwater sustainable to help acheive the SDGs |
| URL | https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380721 |
| Description | Collaboration with UNICEF in East Africa |
| Organisation | UNICEF |
| Department | Unicef Ethiopia |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | UNICEF provided access to a major dataset on water source functionality. Our research team systmatically cleaned up and quality assured this data and then provided a robust interpretation, This led to a high impact ouitput - funded and reportde within another grant. |
| Collaborator Contribution | UNICEF provided access to a major dataset on water source functionality. THis included about 5000 water points - and 20,000 individual records |
| Impact | A majot paper published https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14839-3 A dataset made freely available MacAllister, D., MacDonald, A. M., Kebede, S., Godfrey, S. & Calow, R. C. Comparative Performance Of Rural Water Supplies During Drought-dataset (British Geological Survey, UNICEF, World Vision Ethiopia, & Oxfam Ethiopia, National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC), 2020). https://doi.org/10.5285/cb950f2f-4c79-4ea8-ba9a-92a6dcc4f388 |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Ministry of Water Irrigation and Energy, Ethiopia |
| Organisation | Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy, Ethiopia |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Our research team is undertaking research in Ethiopia and will be examining water points paid for by the Ministry. Our research team will provide updates to the ministry at least annually. |
| Collaborator Contribution | An MoU has been put in place between the project and the Ethiopian Ministry of Water Irrigation and Energy. The Ministry will engage with the research process and seeking regular updates. The ministry will pay for staff to accompany the project team when required. |
| Impact | The collaboration is at an early stage, but should facilitate uptake of the research later in the project |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Contrinution to news article |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Contribute to a News article in "The Conversation" on drought in the Horn of Africa to help inform people about the role that groundwater has in adapting to drought. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Discussion with community leaders and District officials in Amhara and presentation of local posters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The results of the two years of monitoring were summarised and presented in a series of posters to aid discussion with the community members and district officials who had helped with the original research. These structured feedback sessions were a useful way of helping the communities who had been the subject of the research, engage with what the research team had found. In particular, how the quality of water can change after heavy rains and needs boiling, and which types of new water sources are more resilient to drought. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Impact of the 2015/16 El Nino on rural water security in Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presntation by Rachel Bell at the 2018: Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health (SEGH) International conference, 'Geochemistry for Sustainable Development' at Victoria Falls, Livingstone, Zambia |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited talk to Engineers Australia on Groundwater and Water Security in Developing Countries |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An invited talk to Engineers Australia and Australian Water Association on Groundwater and Water Security in developing countries. Between 100 and 150 water professionals attended and after the 1 hour lecture there was a long and lively debate about how groundwater can be used to help people adapt to climate change. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/Event/groundwater-and-water-security-developing-countries |
| Description | Meeting with UNICEF (East Africa) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Formal meeting with UNICEF - Ethiopia and UNICEF East Africa to discuss the implications of the research to their future plans for climate resilient water supply in East Africa. Those attending were decision makers for UNICEF (and with influence for national governments). We showed that boreholes with handpumps haf considerable resilinece |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | News-release: Groundwater : the world's neglected defence against climate change |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | A joint news release between BGS and WaterAid was developed based on BGS research on groundwater to show how groundwater development can be used to buffer water supplies during drought. This news release was picked up by more than 150 media outlets with a combined global reach of 500 million people and included stories in many of the UK newspapers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/532313/ |
| Description | Presentation at the 34th SEGH International Conference: Geochemistry for Sustainable Development |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented climate resilience of groundwater to a mainly geochemical audience dealing with health and agriculture at a conference in Zambia. This was a great opportunity to discuss with an audience that does not normally hear about groundwater |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Presentation: Monitoring the impact of the 2015/16 El Niño on rural water security in Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and installation at a meeting at the Royal Society on "Building resilience to the impacts of El Niño". The event presented the lessons learned from the NERC/DFID programme; bringing together policy makers, practitioners, and researchers to ensure these findings contribute to the development of practical approaches to building resilience to future El Niño events. A talk was given and also an installation for engaging with the informed audience of researchers, policy makers and NGOs. The event led to a special focus issue in ERL and good discussions with senior government scientists |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.eci.ox.ac.uk/events/2018/building-resilience-impacts-el-nino-lessons-field.html |
| Description | Press release associated with the publicaiton of the main findings in ERL: Groundwater and resilience to drought in the Ethiopian highlands |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Press release associated with the publicaiton of a paper on ERL reporting the main findings of the study: Borehles and groundwater are a cliamte resilient water supply https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab282f Picked up by several websites https://waterjournalistsafrica.com/2019/08/boreholes-key-to-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia-study-shows/ https://www.pamacc.org/index.php/k2-listing/item/1130-groundwater-key-to-climate-resilience-in-rural-ethiopia-study http://www.geodrillinginternational.com/wells-boreholes/news/1370264/study-shows-boreholes-are-key-to-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia https://www.waterbriefingglobal.org/boreholes-key-to-drought-resilience-in-ethiopia-study-shows/ |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | The Ethiopian WASH CLUSTER Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Addressed the Wash cluster forum - a gathering of all the donors, NGOs and government agencies involved in water supply ion Ethiopia. Discussed the research we were undertaking and received strong backing for the importance of gathering evidence on how the El Nino drought impacted water supplies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Workshop with District, zonal, regional and federal water offices in Ethiopia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented the results of the research at a targeted workshop of water professionals in Ethiopia where we showed both the length of time people were taking collecting water, and the increased water security people experienced when accessign groundwater. His led to many questions and an interesting discussion which carried on after the workshop |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |