electricsheepafrica/africa-synth-aquifer-depletion-rates-all

⚠️ Synthetic dataset — Parameterized from published SSA literature, not real observations. Not suitable for empirical analysis or policy inference.

African Aquifer Depletion Rates

Synthetic dataset modelling groundwater depletion across 10 major African aquifer systems from 2010–2030 under three management scenarios.

Aquifers

Aquifer	Countries
Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System	Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Chad
North Western Sahara Aquifer System	Algeria, Tunisia, Libya
Ogallala Extension Aquifer	Angola, Namibia
Chad Basin Aquifer	Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon
Iullemeden Aquifer System	Niger, Mali, Nigeria, Algeria
Makgadikgadi Aquifer	Botswana
Stampriet Aquifer	Namibia, Botswana, South Africa
Limpopo Aquifer	South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique
Upper Zambezi Aquifer	Zambia, Angola
Lake Chad Basin Aquifer	Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon, Central African Republic

Scenarios

• baseline: Current trends continue with moderate extraction growth (~1.2%/yr)
• overextraction: Unregulated drilling and agricultural expansion (~3.5%/yr extraction growth)
• managed_recharge: Active aquifer management with extraction controls and recharge programs

Variables

Variable	Description	Unit
record_id	Unique record identifier	string
aquifer_name	Name of the aquifer system	string
countries_sharing	Semicolon-separated list of bordering countries	string
year	Observation year	integer
groundwater_level_m	Depth to groundwater table	metres
extraction_rate_mcm_year	Annual groundwater extraction	million m³/year
recharge_rate_mcm_year	Annual natural + managed recharge	million m³/year
depletion_rate_pct	Net depletion as percentage of recharge	%
storage_change_mcm	Net change in aquifer storage	million m³
water_quality_index	Composite water quality score (0–100)	index
fluoride_mg_l	Fluoride concentration	mg/L
salinity_tds	Total dissolved solids	mg/L
abstraction_wells_count	Number of active abstraction wells	count
irrigation_dependency_pct	Share of extraction used for irrigation	%
population_served_millions	Population relying on the aquifer	millions
transboundary_stress_index	Cross-border governance stress (0–1)	index
sustainability_score	Composite sustainability metric (0–1)	index
scenario	Management scenario label	string

Generation

python generate_dataset.py
python validate_dataset.py

License

CC-BY-4.0

Citation

@dataset{african_aquifer_depletion_rates_2026,
  title={African Aquifer Depletion Rates},
  year={2026},
  license={CC-BY-4.0},
  note={Synthetic dataset}
}