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A newly found imprint of a vast, ancient underground lake in Sudan's Darfur could nourish the prospects of peace in the troubled region by providing a potential water source to an area ravaged by drought. Dr. Farouk El-Baz, who worked on NASA's Apollo program as a supervisor of lunar science planning, says groundwater deposits can be reached through drilling for water. He hopes for backing from regional governments as well as international NGOs. The initiative, called 1,000 Wells for Darfur, has gained the support of the Egyptian government, which has pledged to start building 20 wells.
IslamOnline.net had an e-mail interview with Dr. El- Baz that covered some sides of his recent discovery in Darfur.
IOL: Can you give us more details on the nature of the discovery?
El-Baz: The discovery is part of a series of studies relating to the origin and evolution of desert landforms in the eastern Sahara of North Africa. We use data from space including the following:
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Land sat images that show the features on the desert surface.
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Radar images that penetrate the sand cover to reveal features beneath the sand.
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Topographic data that show the elevations of the features.
IOL: It has been claimed that the existence of water in the region has been known long ago and yet no government efforts were exerted to exploit such resource. Doesn't that shift the attention back that the conflict is political in nature rather than purely resource-related?
El-Baz: This feature was just discovered, it was not known before.
IOL: Do you think the size of the lake is enough to satisfy the needs of the fighting parties or would it rather turn to an additional motive for fighting?
El-Baz: A similar feature in southwestern Egypt, just across the border with Sudan, has yielded water from over 500 wells. The proven water resources there are estimated to allow agriculture over 15,000 fedans for 100 years. There is no way of estimating how much water is in the basin in Northern Darfur until wells are drilled and the water is measured.
IOL: Are the drilling costs affordable for the Sudanese government or should international donors be involved?
El-Baz: The drilling would mostly be by others. The Sudanese government has announced the 1,000 Wells for Darfur initiative to invite friendly nations to participate in this humanitarian effort.
IOL: How long would it take until the people of Darfur can actually start benefiting from the new find?
El-Baz: Drilling of the first wells should commence in the fall, so the people of Darfur should begin to see some results then. However, the whole of the program might require a few years to achieve all of its objectives.
IOL: What is the stance now? Is your initiative taking positive steps?
El-Baz: Selection of well sites will commence for 20 wells that we announced as a gift to the people of Darfur from the Egyptian government, in addition to at least 4 wells for the United Nations peacekeeping force.
IOL: Have you approached the Bush administration and/or American NGOs for help in developing the project? If yes, would you say this response matched their media blitz on the Darfur issue?
El-Baz: The initiative was announced for all in Sudan and those who wish to contribute to it will contact either the UN or the Sudanese government.
IOL: Considering that remote sensing technology has been around for decades, why was the underground lake discovered just now?
El-Baz: The present discovery was made possible by data that were made possible only recently. Only last year I was able to acquire both the radar data and the topographic information. This could not have been done before that.
IOL: How can scientists in the Muslim world, especially where desert land abounds, be trained on the tools and techniques of identifying underground water in a similar fashion? Is the necessary technology available to them for such research in the first place?
El-Baz: This is the best question! Indeed there is a great deal that Muslim scientists need to take into consideration. Most of the Muslim countries are in arid regions. In the meantime, we know very little about deserts and we have added little to human knowledge about arid lands. It is up to the people who live in these deserts to acquire the information and make it available to all, in order to use the land resources for the benefit of its inhabitants.
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