Country of nationality:

CHAD

Research area:

Hydrology, Hydrogeology, Geochemistry

Host Organisation & country:

University of N’Djamena, Chad

Summary

The development of sustainable water management requires the assessment of surface and groundwater interactions, and aquifer recharge, as well as the response of water balance to climate and environmental changes. The aquifers of the Lake Chad Basin cover four African countries, all of which having different groundwater exploitation strategies. It is therefore of the utmost importance to promote the development of thorough hydrogeological understanding on these strategic aquifers, which are easily exploitable for many purposes, from irrigation to drinking water supply.

Dr Mahamat Nour Abdallah's work will contribute to the framework of the Lake Chad transboundary basin to better manage water resources, which is a hot spot in the central Sahel in the context of global change.

Grantee Description

Dr Mahamat Nour Abdallah is a fellow of the ARISE PP program, a lecturer-researcher and assistant professor in the Department of Geology at the Faculty of Exact and Applied Sciences of the University of N'Djamena. He obtained his PhD in Geosciences at the University of Aix Marseille, CEREGE, France in 2019 and then completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Pascal Paoli University in Corsica in 2021. His work is mainly based on understanding the functioning of Sahelian and transboundary surface waters and aquifers in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB).

Dr MAHAMAT NOUR Abdallah's long-term ambition is to develop geochemical -isotopic and modelling tools in order to better understand the relationship between surface and groundwater in Sahel and in particular in the Lake Chad Basin for efficient management of water resources. In addition, Dr Mahamat Nour Abdallah aims to develop a new generation of experts capable of understanding these crucial issues for the development of the region.

Project: Impact of climate change on wetlands from the Lake Chad basin and its consequences on groundwater recharge

In Chad and throughout the Sahelian zone, the population's drinking water needs and domestic uses rely mainly on groundwater. Repeated episodes of drought combined with demographic pressure have created multiple tensions on aquifers, both in terms of quantity and quality. Given the strong climatic variability recorded over the last fifty years in sub-Saharan Africa, it is crucial to determine the real impact of current hydroclimatic changes on groundwater resources, which is still poorly documented in this region of the world. The project aims to strengthen our knowledge to address vulnerabilities related to water and climate change, by improving monitoring and forecasting tools, and to strengthen expertise sharing and technology transfer. To achieve these objectives, geochemical and isotopic tools provide key data on the functioning of hydrosystems, surface water-groundwater interactions and ultimately aquifer recharge. Its methodology will be based on existing (hydro-climatic, geological) and new geochemical (major chemicals, heavy metals), isotopic (δ2H, δ18O, 14C), hydrodynamic, hydrogeological, hydro-climatic data collected in this framework. These data will be used as a basis for setting up modelling experiments to deduce and test in different scenarios, depending on the trajectory of climate change and demographic evolution, the management of water resources.