Parched Ground: After the War, Can Sudan Sustainably Develop and Preserve its Groundwater Resources?

Abstract

The current ethnic strife and refugee problem in western Sudan, specifically in Darfur, is dreadful, vast and thorny. Mushkilla, is the Arabic (the language in northern Sudan) word for problem. However, Sudan's environmental problems may be longer lasting than the country's genocide. These mushkillas are foreshadowed and embedded in the country's failure to implement a development strategy that is sustainable, especially for the production of groundwater. That resource is currently the sole water supply in northwestern and southern Sudan. The Nile River, one of the transboundary water hot-spots in the world, flows through seven countries that are upstream riparians before flowing through Sudan and Egypt. Moreover, given the recent droughts and political stalemate viz a viz the Nile River basin groundwater figures to be a more important source of potable water. I suggest a number of solutions for the impending groundwater shortage in the country. These include: 1) sustainable development, including a discussion of Agenda 21, a plan for achieving sustainable development in the 21st century, which was formulated by the United Nation's Commission on Sustainable Development in December 1992; 2) the precautionary principle, which emanates from the wish to protect Man and nature, even if there is no certain scientific evidence of the extent and cause of the environmental problem; and 3) the duty upon states to cooperate with its adjacent neighbors, who share aquifers with Sudan. These solutions are underpinned by a discussion of Sudan's groundwater resources and its government's treatment of them.

Keywords: Agenda 21, Blue Nile, Darfur, Groundwater, Millennuim Dvelopment Goals, Mushkilla, New Partnership for Africa's Development, Potable Water, Precautionary Principle, Riparian, Sustainability, Sustainable Resources, Transboundary Water, United Nations

JEL Classification: K10, K19, K20, K23, K30, K32, K40, K41, K49, L50