Groundwater assessment and sustainable management of the coastal alluvial aquifers in Namib Desert, Namibia: Omdel Aquifer as case study

Abstract

The study addressed the groundwater assessment and sustainable management of the coastal alluvial aquifers in Namib Desert, the Omaruru River Delta Aquifer (Omdel Aquifer) was used as a case study. Sustainable utilization of groundwater in parts of hyper-arid Sub-Saharan Africa, like the Namib Desert, is always a challenge due to lack of resources and data. Understanding of hydrogeological characteristics of the Omaruru Delta Aquifer System is a pre-requisite for the management of groundwater supply in the Central Namib area (Namib Desert). For the Omdel Aquifer in the Omaruru catchment, Namibia, issues to investigate include the lack of information on the geology and hydrogeological setting, the hydraulic properties and geometry of the aquifer at the inflow and outflow sections, groundwater recharge conditions upstream of the aquifer, and the impact of artificial recharge.