Water Wheel Jan/Feb 2022: Groundwater And Society

Abstract

South African groundwater project shows the power of citizen science Academics and residents are working together in two Limpopo villages, Ga-Komape and Ga-Manamela, to find out more about the areas’ groundwater resources. This is important data: 74% of people in rural areas like these depend on groundwater for their crops and domestic water supply. People use this water but there’s very little knowledge about how much there is, how it recharges, whether it is clean and so forth. Over the past three years, residents from the villages have been trained to capture groundwater data. They use a simple dip meter, record rainfall levels from rain gauges and take images of water flows in rivers. This data is captured on smart phones and relayed to a website where it is available for government, researchers and planners who can use this to better understand what is going on under the ground –- after all, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. This is what’s known as citizen science. “Ordinary” citizens are no longer passive and disengaged but are actively engaged with scientists.

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