Darfur: Water Supply in a Vulnerable Environment - Phase two of Tearfund’s Darfur Environment Study

As a result of the conflict Darfur has unprecedented concentrations of population imposing high localised demands on water resources. This study focuses on the water needs of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in camps. This report finds that the main risk to groundwater supplies in Darfur’s camps is of water shortages in a year of low rainfall in vulnerable camps. Darfur’s rainfall is highly variable but so far a significant dry year has not occurred since the beginning of the current conflict. It is this risk rather than a protracted drying process that needs to be addressed by the relief community. The report identifies 21 camps that are potentially vulnerable to groundwater depletion in a dry year.