ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The city of Lusaka has historically depended on groundwater from the underlying karstic carbonate and schist aquifers. Inadequate hydrogeological data has hitherto hampered determination of the effects of increasing groundwater abstraction on groundwater levels. Although the recharge estimates vary widely from 8% to 35% of the annual rainfall, groundwater resources availability in terms of quantity and quality, as well as annual recharge and recharge mechanisms are still not well understood. On-going research, using a comparative analytical model for groundwater monitoring in the urban and rural areas of Zambia, gives preliminary evidence of groundwater mining and direct contamination of the Lusaka urban aquifers. In the absence of legal instruments and management tools to enhance the acquisition of groundwater data and information, establishing the capacity of the aquifer to cope with the present and future water demands poses the greatest challenge for the Lusaka city aquifers.
