Hydrogeology and Groundwater Quality Atlas of Malawi: Bulletin

Malawi’s water scarcity index is climbing and contrary to popular belief, Malawi is not a water rich nation. Given Lake Malawi holds 7,750 km3 of water, it dominates water resource management perceptions, however Lake level variation is ultimately limited between 471.5 and 477masl, and in 2022 ranged from 474 to 475.25masl, resulting in an annual renewable freshwater input of 35.9 km3. The estimates of annual recharge to Groundwater (<100m depth) in Malawi are conservatively estimated to range between 1.0 km3 and 7.7 km3 with a total Groundwater volume of between 96.7 km3 and 1,108 km3, with an average age of between 95 and 140 years. Groundwater is thus the largest distributed available freshwater resource in Malawi, but as with Lake Malawi, one that is dependent on annual recharge. Groundwater is also vital for sustained river flow in Malawi, it is the key water resource that has potential to provide adaptation and resilience to development challenges and climate change if managed properly.

The Government of Malawi is committed to “provide adequate, reliable, and sustainable water and sanitation services to the people of Malawi to meet the ever-increasing demand for safe water for domestic, institutional, commercial, and agricultural use, with emphasis on the poor and rural communities”. Although groundwater is a reliable resource when properly managed, the lack of professional oversight and limited information reaching planners, decision-makers and users commonly results in it being used as a second option to more expensive surface water schemes. Limited capacity results in a lack of proper and professional hydrogeological interventions, which has led to a 39.4% failure rate (16% non-functional, 23.4% partially functional) for rural single point groundwater water supplies. The Ministry is the National Water Policy holder, and has in place detailed guidance and standard operating procedures for the development, use and monitoring of Malawi’s groundwater resources. There is a push to expand groundwater abstraction using ‘solar’ or ‘reticulated’ groundwater sources, and these investments must be implemented by professional hydrogeologists who gather and use site specific data to determine sustainable groundwater yields, limiting risks of wide-spread failure and over-abstraction of limited groundwater resources. Accordingly, all groundwater abstraction points must be vetted by the National Water Resources Authority (NWRA) and, were required, assigned abstraction permits that maintain groundwater resources for the environment (rivers/wetlands), industry, and agricultural uses.