David Walker

• PHD Civil Engineering
• Vulnerability of shallow groundwater and surface water resources used for irrigation in rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa to climate variability and change

 A four-week field visit to Ethiopia was conducted in March/April 2015; timed to coincide with the end of the dry season and period of greatest water scarcity.  The field visit first involved meeting with local partners in Addis Ababa and Bahir Dar to benefit from their local knowledge.  The majority of the visit was occupied in conducting field investigations within Dangila woreda in the northwest of Ethiopia. 

 Field investigations were part of a hydrogeological assessment and comprised surveys of hand-dug wells, springs, rivers, land-use, geology, geomorphology as well as groundwater sampling and analysis (major-ion and stable-isotope), well pumping and recovery tests, gathering oral information concerning perceptions of water scarcity, and evaluation of community-based and formal meteorological and hydrological monitoring.

 The data obtained is directly used in, or used to support, recharge assessments and numerical modelling that evaluate the potential for shallow groundwater use for irrigation, to indicate areas of greater/lesser potential and to aid management of the resource. 

 Further study, in particular a wet season field visit, will enable assessment of the impact of climate variability, land-use change and increased abstraction on the shallow groundwater resource and on surface water.

 Project Supervisor: Dr Geoffrey Parkin, School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences     

Funding Sources: SAgE Faculty Doctoral Training Awards Programme, Harry Collinson Travel Scholarship and the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award