Though the extent of exceptional water deficits across the continent will diminish from March through May, severe to exceptional deficits will continue to emerge across northern Africa, especially in Niger. Exceptional deficits are also forecast in southern Somalia and southern Gabon. Deficits are also expected in Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, southeastern Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Angola, Uganda, western Tanzania, Kenya, and northeastern Mozambique. Surpluses are expected in southeast Sudan, the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana into western Zambia, Zimbabwe, and northern South Africa. From June through August the overall picture will remain much the same, but worth noting is that extreme to exceptional deficits are forecast for nearly all of Egypt during this period, and deficits will emerge in Somaliland, northern Cameroon, and southern Angola.
ISciences Worldwide Water Watch List March 2017
Regions likely to have significant water deficits for the 12-month period from December 2016 through November 2017 include: Arkansas, Quebec, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Libya, Niger, Gabon, Madagascar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, northern Russia, Inner Mongolia, Thailand, western Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, and eastern Australia. Water surpluses are forecast for: Idaho, Central California, southwestern Zambia, the Okavango Delta in Botswana, northeastern Afghanistan, and between the Irtysh and Yenisei Rivers in Russia. This Watch List is based on ISciences Water Security Indicator Model (WSIM) Global Water Monitor and Forecast issued 8 March 2017.
Africa: Exceptional water deficits recede but widespread deficits persist
The extent of exceptional deficits across the continent will diminish through April, but moderate to extreme deficits will persist across northern Africa and across Africa’s mid-section from Gabon to southern Somalia. Deficits will diminish considerably in Madagascar though persist in the south. Surpluses are forecast in the Okavango Delta in northern Botswana, southern Zambia, Zimbabwe, and western Mozambique. The forecast for May through July indicates a downgrade in the intensity of deficits in the southern Sahel and an increase in the intensity of deficits across northern Africa where extreme to exceptional deficits are expected to emerge in eastern Algeria, northern Niger, Libya, Egypt, and northern Sudan.
Africa: Water deficits across northern Africa
The extent of exceptional deficits across the African continent will diminish considerably through February, but pockets of extreme deficits will persist in eastern Ethiopia and Somalia through February and will emerge in Benin and Nigeria. Thereafter, deficits of notable severity will emerge in Niger, northern Sudan, and Egypt. Exceptional surpluses will persist through February surrounding Bangui in Central African Republic and through May around the White Nile in southeast Sudan and South Sudan.
Africa: Forecast includes exceptional water surpluses in East Africa, deficits in coastal West Africa, southern Africa
The dominant water security issues of interest in Africa continue to be drought in Coastal West Africa and Southern Africa, and water surpluses in East Africa. Coastal West Africa may continue to experience deficits through May 2016, which may reach inland areas. Drought conditions in Southern Africa are forecast to moderate through November, though severe to exceptional deficits are possible December through May. Exceptional surpluses are expected in East Africa through May.