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Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

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Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#21

Post by r0h1n »

I wonder if Kenya's relative underdevelopment (compared to both western countries and farming countries like India/China etc.) is the reason this aquifer has remained undiscovered for so long.

Nonetheless, I hope the people of Kenya will learn from the mistakes of those other countries when it comes to sustainable utilization of aquifer water instead of the indiscriminate use we've seen elsewhere.

Links:

NASA analysis of India's fast-depleting groundwater, including aquifers: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html

Economist piece on acquifers drying up around the world: http://www.economist.com/node/17199914

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#22

Post by vacri »

0X1A wrote: post #10
rabino wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully people will, you know, stop dying and we hackers can go back to do real relevant things like instagram clones and settle once and for all which one is the better Lisp.

Cmon, you can't really expect an audience base that is probably mostly introverted and cynical to actually find joy in reading about a positive find in a third world country could you? In all seriousness though, I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Since, ya know, most things that would be greatly beneficial to developing countries usually are.

Aren't startups all about finding a need and filling it? Isn't that what has happened here?

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#24

Post by ihnorton »

PakG1 wrote: post #15

I don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas wher…

Kenya itself has been relatively stable and relatively peaceful for several decades.

(there was some instability after an election in 2007, and there are simmering issues around the periphery - LRA in Uganda, fiefs in Somalia, continual intervention by Ethiopia in Somalia, North/South Sudan skirmishes).

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#26

Post by eloff »

chad_oliver wrote: post #18
PakG1 wrote: post #15

I don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas wher…

You raise some important issues, but if anything I actually think that this aquifer is going to reduce the conflict in this area. The civil wars, rape, and poisoning are all symptoms of a deeper illness: poverty. Africans aren't more corrupt or warlike than anyone else, they're just poorer and therefore more desperate. Conflict minerals (diamonds, coltan, etc) fuel conflict because they are easy to control. It only t…

You can't explain away centuries (millenia in some cases) of tribalism, with hatred and fear and discrimination passed from parents to children for generations as mere poverty. Poverty plays a role to be sure, but the situation is more complex (it always is.)

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#27

Post by chrischen »

chad_oliver wrote: post #18
PakG1 wrote: post #15

I don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas wher…

You raise some important issues, but if anything I actually think that this aquifer is going to reduce the conflict in this area. The civil wars, rape, and poisoning are all symptoms of a deeper illness: poverty. Africans aren't more corrupt or warlike than anyone else, they're just poorer and therefore more desperate. Conflict minerals (diamonds, coltan, etc) fuel conflict because they are easy to control. It only t…

> Africans aren't more corrupt or warlike than anyone else

How do you know?

My history teacher never hesitated to teach us how Prussia was good at war, and how France sucked at war.

Edit: this is an honest question. If I said anything wrong, please let me know as well.

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#28

Post by smtddr »

PakG1 wrote: post #15

I don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas wher…

>If such water supplies are found in areas where there is conflict, I worry that it only would add to the conflict

I think you are completely right. Incoming anecdotal & speculation: My parents, born in Lagos Nigeria, basically saw this happen. They never planned to be in USA this long; I wasn't suppose to be born here. Basically, Shell(A gas station in USA) is strongly suspected of providing, at least in part, funding for a significant military/political action somewhere around 1970 - 1977. My parents, and several other Nigerians, who traveled to USA to get a degree then return to Nigeria no longer felt comfortable to return and came to the realization that they may have to live in USA for a very long time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_resources_of_Africa

Quote from Wiki:

"Despite these abundance of natural resources, claims suggest that many Western nations like the United States, Canada, France and the United Kingdom as well as emerging economic powerhouses like China often exploit Africa's natural resources today, causing most of the value and money from the natural resources to go to the West rather than Africa, further causing the poverty in Africa."

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#29

Post by laglad »

PakG1 wrote: post #15

I don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas wher…

I speak as an African (Nigerian).

As humans, we plan into the future. However, our planning timeframes are limited by how far into the future we can imagine. Further, our ability to imagine the future depends on how likely we believe that future to be.

In the West where life is safe and prosperous, planning/imagining 20-30 years out is reasonable. In all likelihood, you will live that long. However, in war-torn African countries, the planning timeframe is much shorter for the people. If one faction can gain an advantage that gives them dominance over another faction for the next 2 years, they'll view that as ok. They do so because they can't actually think further than that. The past has taught them not to. This leads to awful decisions in a 10-yr frame. And so they stay trapped in a shitty situation.

I think the actionable question here is "How can an (x+n) year future be imagined?" where x is the current imagined future whether it be a day, month or year and n is any additional time.

Sadly, this question is philosophical until the basic needs of survival are met.

Re: Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya

#30

Post by biot »

rabino wrote: post #5
pokoleo wrote: post #2

I hate to be that guy , but is this relevant?

Hopefully people will, you know, stop dying and we hackers can go back to do real relevant things like instagram clones and settle once and for all which one is the better Lisp.

Some other suggestions along the same lines as you suggest:

  Interrupt a court case so that the courtroom can appreciate the 
  plight of dying African children before they get back to quibbling 
  over legal wording.

  Speak at a conference for accountants so that they can appreciate 
  the plight of dying African children before they get back to 
  fiddling with spreadsheets.

  Share this in sexual abuse groups so that they can appreciate the 
  plight of dying African children before they get back to discussing 
  their own troubles.

  Visit schools and interrupt classrooms so that they can appreciate 
  the plight of dying African children before they get back to 
  learning about math, English, or history.
---

Or... how about we keep human interest stories that would otherwise be covered by major media off of HN unless there is a component of the story which is particularly hackerish and gratifies one's intellectual curiosity? As it stands, this story is little more than "large underground aquifers exist" which is unlikely to gratify anyone's intellectual curiosity any more than "large deposits of coal exist". If finding this aquifer was accomplished via innovative new technology, let's see the story on that.

How about a discussion on Alain Gachet's WATEX publications which I understand to be the technological basis that enabled this find:

http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-pu...

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