Huge Aquifers Are Discovered in North Kenya

With water security a growing concern around the world, the discovery of five aquifers in drought-plagued Turkana County could help secure Kenya’s access to the most critical of natural resources, particularly in the arid north.

Out of a population of roughly 41 million people, 17 million Kenyans lack sufficient access to safe drinking water and 28 million are without adequate sanitation, said the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, known as Unesco.

“This newly found wealth of water opens a door to a more prosperous future for the people of Turkana and the nation as a whole,” Judi Wakhungu, Kenya’s secretary for the environment, water and natural resources, said in a Unesco statement on Wednesday. “We must now work to further explore these resources responsibly and safeguard them for future generations.”

In addition to potentially providing drinking water, the vast underground supplies could be used as a source of irrigation for crops or to water livestock. Malnutrition has been a growing problem among the Turkana people, and a new supply of water could help head off conflicts over scarce resources in the region, where deadly cattle raids are common.

The finds were a product of cooperation between the Kenyan government and Unesco, with the financial support of Japan. According to Unesco, further study is needed to determine exactly how much water there is and its quality. It also remains to be seen how easy and expensive tapping the new supply will be.

The Lotikipi Basin Aquifer — which by one estimate is roughly the size of Rhode Island — and the smaller Lodwar Basin Aquifer were discovered using advanced satellite technology and confirmed with drilling. The other three aquifers still need to be confirmed through drilling, Unesco said.

Gretchen Kalonji, Unesco’s assistant director general for natural sciences, said in the statement that the find “clearly demonstrates how science and technology can contribute to industrialization and economic growth, and to resolving real societal issues like access to water.”

Radar Technologies International, the natural resources exploration firm that discovered the aquifers, said that they contained “a minimum reserve of 250 billion cubic meters of water,” or about 66 trillion gallons, and that rainfall in Kenya and Uganda refilled them with about 898 billion gallons annually.

Unesco described the find as a scientific triumph and one that it hoped to replicate elsewhere. “We will continue to support Africa to unlock the full potential of its invisible water wealth,” Ms. Kalonji said.

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