Research Efforts In Benin

We have been active in the country of Benin since 1997.  Our work includes working with local villages to assist them in monitoring their water quality, sampling of groundwater quality with the Universite d'Abomey-Calavi (in collaboration with Dr. Moussa Boukari), modeling salt-water intrusion along coastal Benin, and drilling of wells.  This work is supported by donations from several private individuals and foundations, as well as grants received from the National Science Foundation.

A brief overview of the history of the program and vision for its future is provided in the following pdf file (current as of June, 2010):

Benin Program Brief

For additional information on any of the following material, please contact:

Dr. Stephen E. Silliman

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Gonzaga University

Spokane, WA 46556

Telephone: 509 313 3522

Please reference our group publications page for a list of

technical and educational papers related to this project.

Relationships with Partners in Benin
The University of Notre Dame has been fortunate in developing a close relationships with a number of partners in Benin.

The Universite d'Abomey-Calavi in Benin:  Previously known at the Universite Nationale du Benin, UAC is the premiere national university in Benin.  Closest relationships have been developed with the Department des Sciences de la Terre, although relationships are being developed within the Engineering programs as well.  Principally through the efforts of Dr. Moussa Boukari and Nicaise Yalo, UAC is a key collaborator in the research we perform in Benin, support for our field teams, and close working relationships with our faculty and students.

Centre Afrika Obota (CAO):  CAO is an NGO which works throughout western Africa.  Our first efforts in Benin (involving drilling of water wells) were coordinated by CAO.  Mr. Flavien Glidja was the original project lead for the Notre Dame relationship.  Mr. Glidja later studied both Water Resources and Public Education at Cornell University, as partially supported through a Humphrey Fellowship.  Mr. Landry Lougbegnon is the current project lead (and has been for approximately 5 years. Mr. Lougbegnon, Mr. Glidja and CAO have been instrumental in providing access to villages for our water quality and education efforts.

Direction Generale d’Eau (previously Direction l'Hydraulique):  Mr. Felix Azonsi is our lead contact at DGEau and is the lead hydrologist for this government agency charged with developing water supplies for rural Benin.  This extraordinary agency has provided key problem statements, logistical support, and expert interpretation to our field results.  This agency also identified and motivated the water quality efforts in Adourekoman (below).

The Critical Focus: The people of Benin
At the end of the day, the driving motivation for this work is the beautiful people of Benin.  These few pictures are simply a few brief examples of these beautiful people!

We were pleased to be recognized for our work with the Benin people via an article

Another Critical Focus: Interactions of students
Several educational efforts have been developed in collaboration with UAC.  While we do not underestimate the impact of our technical services in Benin (drilling wells, monitoring water quality, etc.), the impact of our work on students in Benin and the United States is perhaps the most rewarding focus of our efforts in Benin.  Several groups of students (including groups from both Notre Dame and Benin) have been involved in field sampling and analysis. In addition, Dr. Silliman has taught short courses to graduate students in Benin and  Dr. Boukari has contributed to a course in groundwater hydrology at the University of Notre Dame.  More recently, students from UND and UAC have collaborated on research on nitrate contamination in south-central Benin and salt-water intrusion in coastal Benin. Undergraduates from UND have also taken the lead on an education project that has enabled teachers in Benin to use computers in the school system and has allowed K-8 students in the U.S. communicate with students in Benin.  

Projects:  

Coastal Salt Water Intrusion

Professor Boukari has long had an interest in the hydrogeology along the southern coast of Benin with particular emphasis on the protection and management of the groundwater wells supplying fresh water to Cotonou. Over the past 15 years, these wells have shown signs of increasing salinity apparently due to recharge waters derived from Lake Nokoue. In addition, the continuing expansion of Cotonou and surrounding cities raises concern that contaminants disposed at the surface will lead to contaminated recharge to both the well field and shallow wells used by local populations not currently served by the centralized supply. Finally, the first 5 kilometers of north of the Atlantic coast represents fascinating interactions of surface water, groundwater, saline water, rainfall/runoff, and human interactions with the aquatic environment.

In response, a number of research efforts are focused on coastal Benin, including: (1) multilevel piezometers in Lake Nokoue to monitor spatial/temporal variation in recharge from this large water body, (2) geophysical (resistivity) characterization of the southern coastal zone, (3) geochemical analysis (using a manual Geoprobe direct-push device for accessing waters to depths of approximately 12 meters) of the coastal zone, and (4) groundwater modeling of the Cotonou well field, recharge from Lake Nokoue, and the hydrogeology of the southern coastal region.

Local Populations Monitoring Water Quality
Through our collaboration with DGEau, CAO, and UAC, a project was identified focused on identifying potential sources of elevated nitrates observed in the south-central region of Benin (in the vicinity of the town of Dassa).  As a result, a project was initiated in the summer of 2004 which was designed to study these nitrates.  As the project was initiated, it quickly became apparent that UND, UAC and DGEau lacked the resources and personnel required to sample wells in this region on a regular basis.  Hence, the project was refocused on working with local villages to determine if the population in the village was willing to maintaining a sampling protocol whereby the villagers monitored basic water quality parameters.

This work has led to an interesting combination of sociological and technical methods, including extensive interaction with the local population (see the Master’s thesis of Pam Crane and, very soon, her dissertation).  The sociological methods have included focus group discussions, surveys, and direct observation.  The technical methods have included strip test methods as well as colorimetry.  

The population of Adourekoman, Benin, has faithfully sampled water quality in their wells now for over 6 years. Recently, the focus of the work in Adourekoman has migrated from characterization to addressing the groundwater contamination issues through the possible introduction of latrines that do not release contaminants to the subsurface. This work is being performed through joint efforts of a team of Benin and another team of U.S. students. These students are working closely with the population of Adourekoman in the hopes of securing a long-term, sustainable solution to the problem of human and animal wastes contaminating the local groundwater.

Wellhead protection for these same villages
The efforts in Adourekoman, and the surrounding Colline Department of Benin, have also expanded to the question of whether a combination of numerical modeling, geophysical (resistivity) studies, and chemical tracer tests might assist the local villages and regional water authorities in setting priorities on land-use practices in the hopes of reducing the probability that the water derived from groundwater wells is contaminated due to local village activities. This work includes the use of numerical modeling of flow in fractured media, the application of Fault Trees and Probability Risk Assessment, and the use of resistivity and tracer-test methods. This portion of our work is in its relative infancy with recent efforts focused on building inexpensive instruments to allow field-measures of the concentration of fluorescent dyes.

Drilling of Groundwater Wells

As noted below, one of our initial motivations for groundwater work in Benin was the development of new groundwater supplies for rural villages (this motivation has changed DRAMATICALLY over the past decade!). Working closely with our partners, it became apparent that our efforts and monies were better spent helping to support a DGEau program for drilling wells (with regional drilling contractors doing the drilling and pump installation). This program is based on villages providing a relatively small cost-share, developing a water committee, going through training to select the best technology for their village, and then working with DGEau and affiliates to pursue well drilling. Within this overall structure, our program helps to identify the poorer villages that cannot afford the entire cost share. We work with these villages to help in the cost-share burden, completion of necessary paperwork, and formation of village water committees. We are currently in our second round of drilling efforts (with support received from a local private foundation and the Anne Campana-Judge Foundation) and hope to have more than 30 wells drilled and equipped with hand-pumps by the end of 2011. Landry Lougbegnon, pictured below, has been absolutely instrumental in this effort (in his role as project lead for CAO)

Analysis of Groundwater Quality in the Fractured-Rock Region of Benin
A significant portion of the early efforts in Benin, involving both NSF grants for research (NSF OISE 01-38238 and NSF OISE 99-78192) and an NSF-supported REU site (NSF EEC 0139659) have focused on sampling and analysis of groundwater quality in the hard-rock region of central Benin.  Multiple trips have been performed for collection of water samples.  The resulting analysis involves determination of elemental concentrations through use of ICP-MS, ICP-OES, and specific ion electrods (as well as limited pro-bono analysis of pesticides by Jerry Thoma and group at Environmental Health Laboratories, South Bend, Indiana) as well as isotopic analysis on Nitrogen and Oxygen.  The analysis also involves statistical interrogation of the resulting data via Exploratory Data Analysis, Indicator Variable Analysis, Principal Component Analysis, and Cluster Analysis.

To date, this analysis indicates that there are elevated Uranium concentrations in select wells in eastern Benin.  The Uranium appears to be associated with Calcium-rich geologic settings with a general absence of Uranium has been noted in the Silicate-rich rocks.  In addition, we have looked for groundwater contamination related to the use of pesticides in the agricultural regions.  Although this sampling has indicated an increase in the concentration of certain major ions (e.g., Calcium and Sodium), there is no obvious contamination directly associated with the pesticides or fertilizers utilized in this activity.  Finally, these data support identification of a relatively stationary (statistically) distribution of groundwater quality with major changes observed only where there are significant changes in geology.

To date, multiple reports have been completed relative to this work, including one publication and two Master's thesis (Roope and Galbis-Reig), multiple manuscripts (technical and educational), and a number of presentations.  Links to the publication and these reports are provided above.  

The images below show some of our field experiences.

Projects:  K-8 Education in Benin and Indiana
While extensive efforts have been placed in trying to develop educational exchanges between grade-school students in Benin and their counterparts at local schools in Indiana, this portion of our efforts are currently on hiatus as we assess the successes and failures of our previous efforts.

Projects:  Driller Training
Driller training was an early project run through Lifewater International (www.lifewater.org) with support gratefully acknowledged from the West Foundation (Indianapolis, Indiana).  Performed in collaboration with CAO, this project has allowed the villages of Houmbo (southeastern Benin) and Vovio (southwestern Benin) to drill their own groundwater wells.  The dilling is performed with an LS-100 drill rig. Since our early efforts in driller training, we have come to the conclusion that it is more efficient, and the quality of the resulting well is superior, if we work with DGEau and their water development projects to obtain new wells for needy villages. Hence, we are no longer pursuing driller training as a central portion of our work.

Hydrofracing in crystalline rock

An additional project, currently on hold, involves looking for geochemical, geological, remotely imaged, or geophysical signatures that might help guide the use of hydrofracing to improve well capacity in the fractured crystalline rock in central Benin. For example, the well shown above is a drilled well (the small, capped cylinder to the right of the reservoir). The well required construction of the large reservoir so as to increase capacity, thus allowing use of this low capacity well as a domestic water supply. The goal of a new government project in Benin is to substantially increase capacity of this type of well through hydrofracing. The joint research between Notre Dame and the Universite Nationale du Benin would focus on providing geologic, geochemical, geophysical, or remotely sensed signatures that would help select among multiple wells competing for limited hydrofrac capabilities.

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Thanks for your interest in our work !