ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT: In response to the problems of groundwater management in urban environments, UNESCO with the United Nations for the Environment Program (UNEP) jointly initiated the project entitled ‘Assessment of pollution status and vulnerability of water supply aquifers of African cities’. This project consists of an assessment of the pollution status of the urban groundwater and proposing solutions for better aquifer protection. The methodology includes monitoring groundwater in terms of chemical and bacteriological quality through the preliminary determination of sites. The results show that the groundwater of Abidjan is affected by the progression of pollution in the urban groundwater from the south towards north, with a new trend of progression towards the west. This led aquifer management authorities to close certain water supply schemes, thus reducing the exploitation capacity of the aquifer. As strategies for protection, public awareness is raised by the periodic publication of bulletins on aquifer water-supply quality and workshops in collaboration with certain NGO’s. The aim is to sensitise the authorities and the population on the dangers threatening groundwater in the medium and long term and to lead them to adopt strategies for better aquifer protection. In the same way a vulnerability map of the aquifer is established with the goal to better manage the land. As a solution, the creation of an integrated institutional framework for water quality management is proposed in order to establish lawful measurements in the various fields of water resource management.