Hydrochemistry and 18O/16O and 2H/1H Ratios of Ugandan Waters

Today, 70% of the 35 million people living in Uganda have access to an improved water source, ranking Uganda 148 out of 179 nations reporting in 2010 (Millennium Development Goals Indicators). 80% of Ugandans rely on groundwater as their primary drinking water source, collecting at springs or from shallow wells. Similarly, 80% of Ugandans rely upon agriculture - usually rain fed - as their primary income source. Despite lack of access to protected water sources faced by 10 million Ugandans, and the importance of the blue economy to Uganda's continued development, a country-wide investigation of the chemistry and the stable oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of waters has yet to be completed. Here we present 250 analyses of 18O/16O, 2H/1H and dissolved ion concentrations of Ugandan lakes, rivers, groundwaters and springs collected during July, 2013. We use the new data to characterize regional scale groundwater recharge sources, advection pathways and interactions with surface waters. Large lakes - Albert, Edward and Victoria - show increases in 18O/16O and 2H/1H ratios consistent with open water evaporation, and are shown to be distinct from nearby groundwaters, suggesting minimal recharge from large lakes to the subsurface. Salinities of eastern Ugandan groundwaters are elevated relative to samples collected from the central and western regions, suggesting that longer groundwater residence times and enhanced water-rock interactions characterize these waters. Springs from western Uganda show a shift in 18O/16O to higher values as a result of hydrothermal water-rock exchanges. Dissolved ion and noble gas concentrations show potential for use in assessing geothermal energy resources, perhaps aiding the Ugandan Ministry for Energy, Minerals and Development to meet their goal of increasing renewable energy from 4% (current) to 61% of total use by 2017 (Nyakabwa-Atwoki, 2013). Millennium Development Goals Indicators. mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/data.aspx Nyakabwa-Atwoki, R. K. B. (2013) Challenges in developing Katwe geothermal power project in Kikorongo-Bunyampaka, Kasese District, western Uganda. Proceedings of the Thirty-Eighth Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering, SGP-TR-198 in Stanford, United States, February 11-13, 2013.