Volunteer-Based Groundwater Monitoring for UN Peacekeeping Operations Group 10: Mikiyas Mesfin Guru Pradhan

Problem Motivation UN Peacekeeping Missions and Bases often rely on local groundwater resources to meet their operational needs Estimated at 84 Liters of Water per day for UN peacekeeping forces whereas refugees recommended ~15 Liters of water per day (UNEP, 2012) Excessive groundwater extraction leads to: - Local water scarcity and stress - Negative attitude towards UN mission regardless of the real cause behind groundwater depletion - Failure of the UN peacekeeping mission to maintain sustainable and responsible standards

What is needed? A way to monitor groundwater levels in the area of operations that: Leverages Local Population and Resources: Local, trained volunteers carry out observations; Local empowerment/responsibility, and Safety for UN personnel Transparent and Allows for Objective Water Use Assessment: The groundwater monitoring data is posted on the web for the general public to view and analyze High Data Quality: The groundwater readings will be cross-checked with data loggers and remote sensing data

Overall Architecture Watershed measurement point Well Station Crowdsourced water level info Well Database Web Interface 1)Volunteers measure water table height. 2)They text the well number and well height to UN base 3)Well information is extracted from SMS and added to database 4)Data is shared and available on the web

Volunteer Selection and Training Emphasis placed on volunteer selection and training: inbound data only as good as the volunteers themselves Selection based on various subjective and objective criteria: frequency they visit well areas, technical ability, dedication & drive etc. Training will be provided as to how to take measurements and report the data to the UN base

Possible Outputs

Validation of Monitoring Data Data Loggers placed in a few wells for verification purposes Comparison with GRACE-derived satellite data: