Groundwater Events

The Southern African Development Community – Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) are proud to announce their 1st Annual Groundwater Conference to be held under the theme “Adapting to Climate Change in the SADC Region through Water Security – A Focus on Groundwater”.

The GWD is delighted to announce that the 2019 Field School will be hosted by our GWD Western Cape branch this year! Building on the successes of the annual Industry Field Schools (hosted in Gauteng in 2016-18) and the Honour Students' Field School (2018, hosted in Potchefstroom by the NWU)

The GAUTENG Branch of the Ground Water Division invites you to a MIXER that will feature some interesting talks by esteemed GWD Honorary members and an opportunity to socially engage with other members and prospective members of the Branch.

The Southern African Development Community – Groundwater Management Institute (SADC-GMI) in collaboration with the united nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – International Hydrogeological Programme (UNESCO-IHP), the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre (IGRAC), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) and Department of Water and sanitation – South Africa is proud to announce their 2nd Annual Groundwater Conference to be held under the theme “Groundwater Contribution to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals in SADC Region.”

The comprehensive overview of model calibration and in-depth understanding of the intricacies of uncertainty by Professor John Doherty is great value for money. It is very scarce that the actual developer devotes his time to present a course and thus this course is highly recommended. PEST is the industry standard along with the US UCODE software for groundwater parameter estimation and uncertainty analysis. Whether using finite element (FEFLOW) or finite difference (MODFLOW), model calibration is essential using any one of these codes.

The Ground Water Division was established in 1978 as a division of the Geological Society of South Africa with the objective of advancing the science and technology of groundwater. Our biennial groundwater conference has been pivotal in sharing knowledge about groundwater in South Africa, with this being our 16th three-day event. Our conferences have always centered around the science of groundwater, new technologies, networking, and meeting people who are passionate about groundwater, but this year we also want to focus on Water Use and Conservation, with an emphasis on groundwater.

Groundwater is used widely throughout the African continent, with millions of people being dependent on the availability of sufficient quantities of groundwater of acceptable quality. However, as was evident with the recent drought, as well as numerous other extreme events and hydrometeorological disasters such as flooding, topsoil erosion, surface water quality deterioration, and crop failure, groundwater often only provides immediate relief during disaster rather than being the primary source of potable water.

This event was canceled in light of Covid-19 health safety precautions.

Groundwater plays a pivotal role in ensuring water security in South Africa. It supplies approximately 13% of the total water supply but often provides up to 100% of the water supply to some areas. It is thus a resource of strategic importance. However, its development and management do not reflect this importance. The development of the resource is left at the mercy of municipal procurement and poor operation and maintenance.

The Central Branch members are invited to meet and listen to current groundwater research discussions and network with geohydrologists in central South Africa.

Fieldwork & the focus on geophysics AT Receiver - Pseudo-Science or a method worth investigating. The Audio Magnetotelluric (AMT) signal is generally in the range of 1Hz - 20 kHz with its origin as spherics created by thunderstorms, magnetospheric noise, seismic events, etc. Historical AMT monitors up to five channels at each station, namely Ex Ey Hx Hy Hz. The EM field is a plane wave perpendicular to the ground surface, away from the field source.

Herewith notifying members that GeoCongress 2020 is happening at Stellenbosch University this year (see links from the GSSA below) and that there will be a groundwater session titled "Advances in Southern African Hydrogeology".

The Groundwater Division and its partners are presenting a groundwater field school for postgraduate students and industry professionals. The four-day field school aims to cover appropriate field methods by Introducing or refreshing appropriate basic theory Exposing attendees to the actual field methods in real field conditions Analysing and interpreting field results based on appropriate guidelines, standards, laws, and requirements The field school comprise four modules and attendance can be p/day, p/theme or for the full package: Day 1: Investigation and Siting (hydrogeology and hydrostratigraphy; siting of

Groundwater is not private property, and the use of groundwater requires a water use license or a general authorization. This is imperative for most environmental impact assessments, requiring even ongoing monitoring for the foreseeable future.

Public domain borehole information in South Africa is generally stored in the National Groundwater Archive (NGA) and the Groundwater Resources Information Project (GRIP) databases of which both are centralized databases. The GRIP database is updated by the Department of Water and Sanitation, but only covers one of the nine provinces. The NGA on the other hand covers the entire country, however, there is a backlog of borehole information that needs to be captured, and it has limited time-series data.

Alongside the effects of climate change and anthropogenic factors, natural climate cycles have considerable impacts on the hydrologic cycle. In this study, we look at how global climatic oscillations cycles, like El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) affect total water storage and groundwater storage in the Orange-Senqu River Basin by analysing two large aquifers: the Stampriet Transboundary Aquifer System (STAS) shared between Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, and the Karoo Sedimentary Aquifer shared between Lesotho and South Africa.

TALK ABSTRACT  It’s commonly accepted that climate change will be experienced though water, particularly in developing countries. Several studies relating to the impacts of climate change on surface water have been undertaken while very little research exists on the potential impacts on groundwater.

Science is a living document; it grows and expands as more information becomes available and our knowledge grows. It makes use of hypothesis, experiments, observations, and measurements. Groundwater scientists have a difficult task. They work in a system that is not visible, and they cannot take it into a laboratory to study. They use geophysical methods and drill boreholes to get an idea of the groundwater system that they are studying.

Being in South Africa we have all be exposed to the pressures associated with drought. In drought situations, we see how it becomes mayhem with numerous short-cuts being taking, incorrect methodologies being implemented and over-inflated prices and opinions being applied and pronounced in the drought regions. As water supply engineers, hydrogeologists and scientists, we all need to learn from one another and adhere to some form of standards in the areas of borehole drilling, pumping tests, and monitoring.

THEME: Enhancing Water and Food Security through Sustainable Groundwater Development in the SADC Region. Online Conference: 24-26 November 2020 BACKGROUND Parts of Sub Saharan Africa makes little use of its groundwater resources, which contributes only 1% of total renewable water resource withdrawals for agriculture. Projected and continuing changes to the amount, intensity and predictability of rainfall in much of Southern Africa will lead to changes in the way the region views its groundwater resources. Increasing water scarcity will be particularly difficult for smallholder farmers who produce 90% of Africa’s food who haven not access to central water supply infrastructure. Currently,

Parts of Sub Saharan Africa makes little use of its groundwater resources, which contributes only 1% of total renewable water resource withdrawals for agriculture. Projected and continuing changes to the amount, intensity and predictability of rainfall in much of Southern Africa will lead to changes in the way the region views its groundwater resources.

Fundamental to the definition of groundwater availability and the management of any aquifer is an understanding of the changes in groundwater levels and storage, recharge, and groundwater discharge to surface water when the aquifer is pumped. This understanding forms the foundation for the determination of limits of future abstraction and thresholds of unacceptable impact and provides a tool against which to compare future datasets and make groundwater management decisions.

About the Talk: Fundamental to the definition of groundwater availability and the management of any aquifer is an understanding of the changes in groundwater levels and storage, recharge, and groundwater discharge to surface water, when the aquifer is pumped. This understanding forms the foundation for the determination of limits of future abstraction and thresholds of unacceptable impact, and provides a tool against which to compare future datasets and make groundwater management decisions.

The vadose zone stretches from the land surface to the groundwater table, where moisture in intergranular pore space and rock defects occurs at variable water saturation and at negative pore-water pressures.

FEFLOW is widely recognised as a comprehensive software package for subsurface flow and transport simulation. FEFLOW’s unique meshing capabilities (structured and unstructured) allows for the highest degree of flexibility to account in detail for the most simple to complex geometrical configurations. The software is used by leading research institutes, universities, consulting firms and government organisations all over the world.

Localizing regional-scale groundwater big data using machine learning: A case study of the Ramotswa/NW/Gauteng Dolomites

All Masters and PhD students currently studying hydrogeology and associated topics are invited to present their work either as an 8 minute oral presentation or a full poster presentation (with a 3 minute lightning overview of their posters).

With the conclusion of the 17the Groundwater Conference and Exhibition hosted as a hybrid conference (online/in-person) in Pretoria, we are very excited to start herewith the process of debriefing on the Conference proceedings.