As a result of climate change, sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to experience more frequent and ex... more As a result of climate change, sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to experience more frequent and extreme droughts, contributing to greater water insecurity. Droughts affect the reliability, quantity and quality of water available, potentially undermining recent gains in drinking water access and making it difficult to extend services. Ethiopia, in particular, is highly vulnerable to drought. Since 1965, Ethiopia has experienced 15 severe droughts affecting more than 65 million people and causing serious economic damage. Most recently, in 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia suffered a harsh drought, linked to El Nino, which forced more than 10 million people to rely on emergency aid due to crop and water supply failures. During the 2015-16 drought significant effort was made to monitor and understand the performance and use of rural water points. Drawing on two recently published studies we demonstrate that with adequate monitoring and maintenance rural groundwater points can deliver a consistent ...
Groundwater resources are vulnerable to physical degradation in the form of depletion, depletion-... more Groundwater resources are vulnerable to physical degradation in the form of depletion, depletion-induced changes, and contamination. Degradation, commonly induced by human activity, has environmental, economic and social effects, which in turn impact on mankind. This paper develops a broad framework for analysing groundwater degradation problems and management strategies. It then applies the framework to two contrasting groundwater degradation situations in developing countries.
There is scientific agreement in the latest report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate C... more There is scientific agreement in the latest report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): anthropogenic climate change is already occurring and even if greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilised, global warming and sea level rises will continue for centuries – the result of climatic processes and feedbacks (Solomon et al., 2007). These changes in the Earth’s physical systems are likely to have a major impact on biological and socio-economic systems, and the poorer developing countries are at greatest risk. Adaptation is, therefore, seen as an inevitable and necessary response. Vulnerability to climate change and other climate hazards is largely determined by social and economic factors such as income, access to education and healthcare, and the availability of economic opportunities. In sub-Saharan Africa socio-economic vulnerability often coincides with bio-physical vulnerability; a large proportion of the population (the rural poor) depends on climate-sensit...
Extending and sustaining access to rural water supplies remains central to improving the health a... more Extending and sustaining access to rural water supplies remains central to improving the health and livelihoods of poor people, particularly women, in Africa, where 400 million rural inhabitants have no form of utility provided water, and universal access to water hinges on accelerated development of groundwater (UN 2013). The ‘future proofing’ of groundwater investments is therefore vital, especially in the context of global and local trends including demographic shifts, environmental impacts of human activity and climate change (Taylor et al. 2013). The emphasis, in recent years, on accelerating access to new infrastructure has obscured a hidden crisis of failure. More than 30% of sources are non‐functional within a few years of construction (Rietveld et al. 2009, RWSN 2009, Lockwood et al. 2011) and a greater number are seasonal (for example 50% in Sierra Leone) (MoEWR 2012). The accumulated costs to governments, donors, and, above all, rural people, are enormous. The original be...
As rural African communities experience more frequent and extreme droughts, it is increasingly im... more As rural African communities experience more frequent and extreme droughts, it is increasingly important that water supplies are climate resilient. Using a unique temporal dataset we explore rural water supply (n = 5196) performance during the 2015–16 drought in Ethiopia. Mean functionality ranged from 60% for motorised boreholes to 75% for hand-pumped boreholes. Real-time monitoring and responsive operation and maintenance led to rapid increases in functionality of hand-pumped and, to a lesser extent, motorised boreholes. Increased demand was placed on motorised boreholes in lowland areas as springs, hand-dug-wells and open sources failed. Most users travelled >1 h to access motorised boreholes but <30 min, increasing to 30-60 mins, for hand-pumped boreholes. Boreholes accessing deep (>30 m) groundwater performed best during the drought. Prioritising access to groundwater via multiple improved sources and a portfolio of technologies, such as hand-pumped and motorised boreh...
As a result of climate change, sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to experience more frequent and ex... more As a result of climate change, sub-Saharan Africa, is expected to experience more frequent and extreme droughts, contributing to greater water insecurity. Droughts affect the reliability, quantity and quality of water available, potentially undermining recent gains in drinking water access and making it difficult to extend services. Ethiopia, in particular, is highly vulnerable to drought. Since 1965, Ethiopia has experienced 15 severe droughts affecting more than 65 million people and causing serious economic damage. Most recently, in 2015 and 2016, Ethiopia suffered a harsh drought, linked to El Nino, which forced more than 10 million people to rely on emergency aid due to crop and water supply failures. During the 2015-16 drought significant effort was made to monitor and understand the performance and use of rural water points. Drawing on two recently published studies we demonstrate that with adequate monitoring and maintenance rural groundwater points can deliver a consistent ...
Groundwater resources are vulnerable to physical degradation in the form of depletion, depletion-... more Groundwater resources are vulnerable to physical degradation in the form of depletion, depletion-induced changes, and contamination. Degradation, commonly induced by human activity, has environmental, economic and social effects, which in turn impact on mankind. This paper develops a broad framework for analysing groundwater degradation problems and management strategies. It then applies the framework to two contrasting groundwater degradation situations in developing countries.
There is scientific agreement in the latest report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate C... more There is scientific agreement in the latest report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): anthropogenic climate change is already occurring and even if greenhouse gas concentrations are stabilised, global warming and sea level rises will continue for centuries – the result of climatic processes and feedbacks (Solomon et al., 2007). These changes in the Earth’s physical systems are likely to have a major impact on biological and socio-economic systems, and the poorer developing countries are at greatest risk. Adaptation is, therefore, seen as an inevitable and necessary response. Vulnerability to climate change and other climate hazards is largely determined by social and economic factors such as income, access to education and healthcare, and the availability of economic opportunities. In sub-Saharan Africa socio-economic vulnerability often coincides with bio-physical vulnerability; a large proportion of the population (the rural poor) depends on climate-sensit...
Extending and sustaining access to rural water supplies remains central to improving the health a... more Extending and sustaining access to rural water supplies remains central to improving the health and livelihoods of poor people, particularly women, in Africa, where 400 million rural inhabitants have no form of utility provided water, and universal access to water hinges on accelerated development of groundwater (UN 2013). The ‘future proofing’ of groundwater investments is therefore vital, especially in the context of global and local trends including demographic shifts, environmental impacts of human activity and climate change (Taylor et al. 2013). The emphasis, in recent years, on accelerating access to new infrastructure has obscured a hidden crisis of failure. More than 30% of sources are non‐functional within a few years of construction (Rietveld et al. 2009, RWSN 2009, Lockwood et al. 2011) and a greater number are seasonal (for example 50% in Sierra Leone) (MoEWR 2012). The accumulated costs to governments, donors, and, above all, rural people, are enormous. The original be...
As rural African communities experience more frequent and extreme droughts, it is increasingly im... more As rural African communities experience more frequent and extreme droughts, it is increasingly important that water supplies are climate resilient. Using a unique temporal dataset we explore rural water supply (n = 5196) performance during the 2015–16 drought in Ethiopia. Mean functionality ranged from 60% for motorised boreholes to 75% for hand-pumped boreholes. Real-time monitoring and responsive operation and maintenance led to rapid increases in functionality of hand-pumped and, to a lesser extent, motorised boreholes. Increased demand was placed on motorised boreholes in lowland areas as springs, hand-dug-wells and open sources failed. Most users travelled >1 h to access motorised boreholes but <30 min, increasing to 30-60 mins, for hand-pumped boreholes. Boreholes accessing deep (>30 m) groundwater performed best during the drought. Prioritising access to groundwater via multiple improved sources and a portfolio of technologies, such as hand-pumped and motorised boreh...
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Papers by Roger Calow