Discoveries of aquifers – underground earth formations that hold water – often create excitement around their ability to ease water scarcity in a region.
For instance, about 10 years ago a large aquifer was discovered in Kenya’s Turkana region. This is one of the hottest, driest parts of Kenya and it frequently suffers from drought. The government claimed that the aquifer could supply the entire country with water for 70 years. More recently, the US announced the discovery of five aquifers in Niger, one of Africa’s most water scarce countries, containing over 600 billion cubic metres of water. To put it into perspective, Egypt’s current water demand is 114 billion cubic metres of water per year.
