"This book is authored by two South African groundwater scientists. South Africa has  the  most  experience  with  MAR  because  there  are  dozens  of  substantial  MAR applications in diverse hydrologic and geologic conditions ranging from unconsolidated aquifers in semi-arid climates to fractured rocks in desert climates. South Africa is a leader in MAR as a result of more than 50 years of research and practice supported by farsighted government funding. This book is the one of many Groundwater Project books in a planned series of books about MAR in specific countries or regions. The two  authors  of  this  book,  Drs.  Eberhard  Braune  and  Sumaya  Israel,  are currently faculty members at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa and have been long standing participants in research concerning MAR and related topics including natural recharge, water resources management and groundwater geochemistry. They bring a holistic perspective to MAR as illustrated by the content of this book." 
Extract from John Cherry, The Groundwater Project Leader Guelph, Ontario, Canada, July 2021

BOOK INTRODUCTION

Key to the African water crisis, often referred to in international forums, is the large spatial and temporal variability of resource availability, going with the more arid climate prevalent in about 60 percent of the African continent and the widespread lack of skilled and experienced human resources to manage the irregular availability of water. Provision of  sufficient  storage  capacity  under  growing  water  demand  and  increasing  climate variability is one the main concerns for water managers in the region in the coming decades. The  natural  storage  in  aquifers  makes  conjunctive  use  of  water  resources  and  artificial recharge of aquifers particularly attractive in the region.

Excellent  progress  has  been  made  with  all  knowledge-related  aspects  and promotion of artificial recharge in South Africa. This has been driven by the Water Research Commission  with  its  research  and  development  programs  for  nearly  fifty  years  now. Among others, it led to the construction of a major borehole injection scheme for the City of Windhoek, Namibia Windhoek’s MAR scheme, of particular interest because it involves large-scale borehole injection and recovery in a highly complex, fractured quartzite aquifer. Implementation  in  South  Africa  was  helped  by  the  detailed  Artificial  Recharge  Strategy developed  by  the  national  Department  of  Water  Affairs  and  Forestry.  With  17  reported cases, South Africa has by far the highest MAR implementation in Africa.

With  this as  background,  six  cases are  discussed,  covering  different  physical  and management environments and recharge methods in Southern Africa. They are structured to  bring  out  an  understanding  of  the  different  driving  forces  towards  the  use  of  MAR techniques, factors that affect the selection of a particular MAR technique and how efficient and effective various MAR techniques have proven to be.

The main stumbling block to a much greater, systematic roll-out of this technology has  been  a  lack  of  appropriate  governance  and  institutional  development  for  the sustainable  utilization  and  management  of  groundwater  resources  in  South  Africa.  This has been failing in Africa in general, despite groundwater’s strategic role as an essential resource to help achieve community development and poverty alleviation.

 

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Read also this ARTICLE on MAR posted by Dr S Adams