BU prof proposes solution to Darfur water crisis

One Boston University professor has proposed a solution to the
conflicts that still rage in the Darfur region of the Sudan that
doesn’t involve military or political ramifications – all he says
that’s need to stop the fighting is water.
“Water is a critical component of life in Darfur. The problems in the
region stem from the scarcity of water,” Professor of geology Farouk
El-Baz said to an audience in the Photonics Center on Monday.
“Much of the conflict is between the nomadic people, who believe water
and land have no owner, and the sedentary people, who claim the land
as well as its water reserves as their own.”
El-Baz’s discovery of water in this arid region led BU students to
establish 1,001 Wells for Darfur, a charitable initiative aiming to
increase access to clean water in the area.
El-Baz, the director of BU’s Center for Remote Sensing, used
technology that the center specializes in to find underground water
reserves that could be tapped in Egypt and Darfur.  In his research,
El-Baz said he found that there was evidence of previous lakes and
civilization in the southern area of Egypt, which is now desert.
The professor spent 13 years convincing the Egyptian government to dig
wells to substantiate his claim. The government’s two test wells
proved successful and 900 have since been drilled in southern Egypt.
He assumed that the northern area of Darfur might have untapped
groundwater because its landscape is similar to Egypt’s. El-Baz used
Egypt’s successful search for water to convince the government of
Sudan to accept the proposal to build 1,001 in Darfur.
The professor said he predicts that once this issue of water scarcity
is reconciled, the region will be much more peaceful. However, Sudan
will have issues finding the money to drill and build the wells. A
well can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000.
El-Baz is working with students to promote this issue and raise money
to drill and build the wells.
BU students established the first chapter of 1,001 Wells for Darfur in
2009. The students have since raised $7,000 out of the $10,000 needed
to build a well.
The president of BU’s chapter of 1,001 Wells for Darfur Amanda Ward, a
College of Arts and Sciences senior, said the group is looking for
more students to join.
“We’ve had some struggles popularizing this initiative,” Ward said.
“We are a very small group, only four or five members at a time, but
have still managed to raise a decent amount of money. We mostly
collect money one dollar at a time by selling these water drop pins.”
Ward said the group has been working with colleges such as
Northeastern University and schools outside of Boston to help it
establish their own chapters.
“It will be a really big step in this initiative once BU is able to
finance a well,” Ward said. “We need to get the student body together
and finish raising those $3,000.”
El-Baz said he is hoping that once the BU chapter raises enough money
for a well, it will promote other colleges to start their own
initiatives.