urban

The potential role of groundwater in supporting the resilience of human societies is garnering increased attention in the context of climate change. Much of this attention focuses on the resilience of the groundwater resource itself. Less attention has been given to the way that groundwater is used by society and how this may influence human-centred resilience outcomes, particularly in urban settings.

In response to the Western Cape’s worst drought experienced during 2015-2018, the City of Cape Town implemented various projects to augment its water supply, including desalination, re-use and groundwater. The Cape Flats Aquifer Management Scheme (CFAMS) forms one of the groundwater projects that includes groundwater abstraction and managed aquifer recharge (MAR). The Cape Flats Aquifer (CFA) is a coastal, unconfined, primary aquifer within an urban and peri-urban environment.

The use of specific-depth sampling technique to demonstrate groundwater quality variation different groundwater units of unconfined aquifers has not been widely published. To demonstrate the feasibility of such technique, the unconfined Cape Flats Aquifer (CFA) in Cape Town of South Africa was studied. The aquifer underlies an urbanised area which is vulnerable to contamination from industrial and agricultural activities, waste disposal sites, landfill sites, and formal and informal settlements.