Transboundary Groundwater
Challenges and Ways Forward
- from Mauritania to Oman Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural
Resources (BGR), Germany
Ralf Klingbeil
Transboundary vs. Shared
- a clarification • Often used “shared” water is only wishful thinking.
• Although fair sharing of common resources is the ultimate goal
the fact is that in the Middle East in particular there is currently no
sharing of groundwater resources that are crossing international
borders or are existent as one water body on both sides of an
international border. Instead the term “transboundary” just reflects the
issue of a resource crossing a border, describing a physical status,
i.e. the current situation.
• It’s still a long way for transboundary groundwaters in the Middle
East to become truly shared resources.
• This fact might be not liked by some in the Middle East but unfortunately - it is the truth, a bitter truth.
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Transboundary Water in North Africa and Middle East is
Groundwater
Source: GRDC, 2004, GPCC, 2004. www.whymap.org
Transboundary Aquifer Systems
in North Africa and Middle East
Source: www.whymap.org
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Transboundary Aquifer Systems
in North Africa and Middle East
North Africa
401
Tindouf Aquifer
402
Errachidia Basin
403
Northwest Sahara Aquifer System (NWSAS)
404
Mourzouk-Djado Basin
405
Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS)
406
Senegalo-Mauritanian Basin
407
Taoudéni Basin
408
L’Air Cristalline Aquifer
409
Tin-Séririne Basin
Western Asia
501
Upper Jezira / Mesopotamia
502
Eastern Mediterranean
503
Hauran and Jabal Al-Arab (Basalts, Neogene to Quaternary)
504
505
Syrian Steppe
Eastern Arabian Peninsula (Paleogene)
Algeria, Morocco
Algeria, Morocco
Algeria, Libya, Tunisia
Chad, Libya, Niger
Chad, Egypt, Libya, Sudan
Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Senegal
Algeria, Mali, Niger
Algeria, Mali, Niger
Algeria, Niger
Iraq, Syria, Turkey
Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
UAE, Yemen
Transboundary Aquifers / Groundwater Units
in the Middle East
501 Upper Jezira / Mesopotamia
502 Eastern Mediterranean
Western Mountain Aquifer
Eastern Mountain Aquifer
Northeastern Mountain Aquifer
Hasbani-Ouazani Aquifer catchment
Southern Anti-Lebanon Cretaceous
Northern Anti-Lebanon Cretaceous
Southern Anti-Lebanon Jurassic
Northern Anti-Lebanon Jurassic
Gaza Strip Aquifer
503 Hauran and Jabal Al-Arab (Basalts, Neogene to Quaternary)
504 Syrian Steppe
Disi, Saq
505 Eastern Arabian Peninsula (Paleogene)
Saq
Iraq, Syria, Turkey
Israel, (Jordan), Lebanon, Palestine, Syria
Israel, Palestine
Israel, Palestine
Israel, Palestine
Israel, Lebanon
Lebanon, Syria
Lebanon, Syria
Lebanon, Syria
Lebanon, Syria
Israel, Palestine
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Jordan, Saudi Arabia
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
UAE, Yemen
Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE
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Transboundary Aquifers / Groundwater Units
in the Middle East
Not Assignable
Aruma Deep Aquifer
Neogene Deep Aquifer
Wasia-Biyadh Deep Aquifer
Wajid Deep Aquifer
Wasia-Biyadh Deep Aquifer
Saq and Tabuk Deep Aquifers
Upper Jordan River Quaternary
Lower Jordan River Quaternary
…
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia
Oman, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
Saudi Arabia, Yemen
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE
Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Israel, Syria
Israel, Jordan, Palestine
International Co-operations BGR is currently or
was recently involved
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
NWSAS with OSS
NSAS with German universities
Southern Africa with SADC
Lake Chad Basin with LCBC
Guarani Aquifer with SEAM Paraguay and
international organisations like GEF
Volta River Basin with GLOWA Volta
WHYMAP Æ www.whymap.org
UN ESCWA
…
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Cooperation with UN ESCWA
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM):
Cooperation with UN ESCWA
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM):
Special Focus on Sharing International Groundwater
A – Water Governance
• An Enabling Environment
• Water Legislation
• Water Institutions and
Building Capacity
• Stakeholder Participation and
Gender Issues
• Financing Structures
B – Water Uses
• Food, Agriculture and
Irrigation
• Drinking Water and
Sanitation Services
• Environment
C – Water Management Tools
• Integrated Basin Planning and
Management
• Water Resources Assessment
• Groundwater Management
• Demand Management
• Value of Water
• Using Regulations
• Managing Shared Resources
• Promoting Awareness and Education
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Cooperation with UN ESCWA
Dispute Resolution Techniques and Enhancing
Negotiation Skills on International Water
Resources
Source: UN ESCWA, BGR, GTZ, 2004.
Cooperation with UN ESCWA
Dispute Resolution Techniques and Enhancing
Negotiation Skills on International Water
Resources
Source: UN ESCWA, BGR, GTZ, 2004.
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Transboundary Water Co-operation
ESCWA & BGR
• Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Yemen:
Paleogene Study
• Iraq: Transboundary Groundwater of Iraq and its Neighbours
• Jordan-Syria: Basalt Aquifer
• Lebanon-Syria: Al Kabir River Basin
• Oman-UAE: Shallow Aquifer
• Oman-Yemen: Wasia-Biyadh / Mukallah Deep Aquifer
• Palestine: Support to Palestinian Officials for Enhancing
Negotiation Skills
• Saudi Arabia-Yemen: Wajid Sandstone
Why is Transboundary Groundwater Cooperation
so much more complex than working in
International River Basins?
• GW moves 3-dimensional, not 1-dimensional like a river
Æ complex in space
• GW recharge and discharge, GW movement happens in various
timescales from within a few hours to thousands of years
Æ complex in time
• GW basin management boundaries are not as obvious as river
basins, they might even change with GW abstraction
Æ complex & variable in its extent
• Out of sight – out of mind?
• “We better use as much as possible before we may have to
agree with our neighbour on reduced water resources use”
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Policy Recommendations 1/2
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Every transboundary groundwater case needs a newly
adapted approach, nothing from the shelf, geology
matters - and hydrogeology!
Understanding and clarification of the benefits of
cooperation for each involved party and for the region as a
whole is essential to focus cooperation process on
reaching those benefits
Look for the low hanging apples first - to tackle those
challenges first that yield beneficial results fast
Support of trust building between technical staff of the
involved countries
Ensure all parties are on equal technical level by technical
capacity building
Policy Recommendations 2/2
6.
Creating awareness and support on the political level, capacity
building on political level
7. If countries might not be likely to find their own way to cooperation
find ONE neutral 3rd party moderator, that is trusted equally by all
parties
8. Better donor coordination to ensure clear focussed perspective on
the cooperation and agreed support for ONE 3rd party
9. As a 3rd party always ask yourself: Can you really be trusted by all
parties equally? If not, withdraw immediately from the moderation
and stay outside
10. Be aware of what is technically needed for cooperation:
Do the parties need full-access-publicly-accessible-databases with
all possible hydro-information? Or would a simple information
sharing between a small group of experts be enough for the
purpose?
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Three Dimensional Challenges in River / Groundwater
Basin Management Approach
Mountain Aquifers between
Israel and Palestine
Upper Aquifer
Lower Aquifer
Covering Layers
Three Dimensional Challenges in River / Groundwater
Basin Management Approach
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GLOWA Volta Project:
Sustainable Water Use under Changing Land Use,
Rainfall Reliability and Water Demands in the Volta Basin
Goals:
ƒ Distribution of groundwater use;
ƒ Groundwater potential of different
hydrogeological units;
ƒ Influence of climate variability on
groundwater resources;
ƒ Sustainability of increasing groundwater
use.
www.glowa-volta.de
South America:
Sustainable Management of the Guarani Aquifer
Transboundary Groundwater Resources
Schematic Map of
Guarani Aquifer
Leyenda
Aguas que no pertenecen al sistema Guaraní
Probales áreas de recarga indirecta
por aguas superficiales
por aguas subterráneas
Probables áreas de recarga directa
medio poroso: Guaraní
medio poroso/fracturado: basaltos y areniscas
Probables áreas de descarga
medio poroso: afloramiento del Guaraní
medio poroso/fracturado: basaltos y areniscas
medio poroso/fracturado (relación desconocida con
respecto al Guaraní)
Límite de la cuenca del Plata
Límite geológico de la cuenca del Paraná
Ríos
Esteros
Límite internacional
Límite interprovincial/interestatal
Ciudad
Capital de provincia/estado
Capital de provincia/estado
Ministerio Federal
de Cooperación Económica
y Desarrollo
0
100 200 300 km
Secretaria del Ambiente (SEAM)
Avda. Madame Lynch 3500, Asunción
República del Paraguay
Source: CAS/SRH/MMA (UNEP/Brasil)
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South America:
Sustainable Management of the Guarani Aquifer
Transboundary Groundwater Resources
GEF
Consejo Superior de
Dirección del Proyecto
(Steering Committee)
Banco
Mundial
OEA
Secretaría General
del Proyecto
Unidades Nacionales de Ejecución del Proyecto
Argentina
Brasil
Paraguay Uruguay
SEAM
BGR
South America:
Sustainable Management of the Guarani Aquifer
Transboundary Groundwater Resources
Satellite image
of the region
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