Leitfaden den an der Rollstuhlversorgung - Meyra

The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS)The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer SystemMarianne Alker1 IntroductionThe study described here was one of five carried out for the research project“transboundary groundwater management in Africa”. The NubianSandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) was selected for the study because it isone of the largest and most important transboundary aquifer systems inNorthern Africa, where dependency on groundwater is high and the managementof shared groundwater is an important, politically sensitive issuewith social, economic and national security dimensions. This is so muchthe case that the riparian countries have already set up an institutionalstructure for information exchange and joint management of the NSAS.The findings presented here are the result of a literary research study andcan therefore give only a limited insight into the complex modelling activitiescurrently being carried out in the NSAS region. However, theymake it possible to draw conclusions concerning strategic options forGerman development cooperation.This paper describes the major characteristics of the aquifer and its usepatterns in the riparian countries and analyzes the incentives for transboundarycooperation in managing the NSAS. The paper then depictssteps already taken by the riparian countries for interriparian cooperationregarding the aquifer and ends by analyzing the challenges ahead. Finally,it formulates conclusions and recommendations.2 Characteristics of the Nubian Sandstone AquiferSystemAlthough the NSAS has been the subject of numerous studies, scientificknowledge of this aquifer system is still limited. There exist for it no preciseestimates of such characteristic values as the total volume of waterstored, the rate of groundwater flow, and total annual extraction from it (A.Margane, personal communication 2007). Estimates of the total amount ofgroundwater stored, for example, vary from 15,000 km³ (Ambroggi 1966,German Development Institute 237