Updates from the project supported by CEN in Botswana
We have received some updates from the six students of the Master's in Environmental Engineering at Delft University of Technology, who are involved in a project on sustainable water resource management at the Limpopo-Lipadi Nature Reserve in Botswana. CEN is proud to support these young professionals who are working towards a more sustainable future.
The project focuses on studying groundwater availability and the impact of vegetation thinning methods on water balance and soil health.
After weeks of intense fieldwork, the team has achieved important milestones:
"We are happy to share some updates from Limpopo Lipadi! Time flies, and we are already halfway through our time here. The summer is approaching, and with it, a few drops of rain and very hot days. In the last two weeks, we have been busy continuing fieldwork and analyzing the soil samples we collected.
In total, 48 soil samples have been analyzed for texture and color, which has allowed us to classify the soil types in the different areas of the reserve in a simple and practical way. This step is crucial and forms the basis for meaningfully comparing the rest of the data we have collected, such as soil moisture and hydraulic conductivity."
We have also made progress on the water balance, which has proven to be a challenge. Our focus has mainly been on how to incorporate the spatial variability of the different parameters within the reserve into the water balance. To do this, we classified the vegetation cover using satellite images, in addition to analyzing the slopes and elevation of the study area. To define some of the missing parameters, we returned to the field, where we conducted a runoff coefficient test in deforested, non-deforested, sloped, and flat areas to determine the influence of such conditions on the amount of water that infiltrates or runs off towards the river.
An exciting piece of news is that we took a trip into town, where we were able to experience the local culture more closely and spend quality time together!
In the coming weeks, we will be focused on formalizing our results, finalizing the parameters for the water balance, and, most importantly, finding the most efficient way to produce a cohesive and thorough report for the Limpopo Lipadi Reserve.
We are excited to make the most of our last few weeks in the reserve and look forward to sharing our results with you in the final updates!
