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Huge water reserve discovered in Kenya
- pokoleo 13y agoI hate to be that guy, but is this relevant?
- rabino 13y agoHopefully people will, you know, stop dying and we hackers can go back to do real relevant things like instagram clones and settle once and for all which one is the better Lisp.
- 0X1A 13y agoCmon, you can't really expect an audience base that is probably mostly introverted and cynical to actually find joy in reading about a positive find in a third world country could you? In all seriousness though, I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Since, ya know, most things that would be greatly beneficial to developing countries usually are.
- tankbot 13y agoIt's true. My first thought when reading "if it is managed properly" was "yeah, right." We humans tend to fuck things up. You see? Cynical.
- vacri 13y agoAren't startups all about finding a need and filling it? Isn't that what has happened here?
- Dylan16807 13y agoThere's a difference between caring about something and thinking it's intellectually stimulating. There's no need to insult people because they think HN is a bad place to post good news that has no takeaway value. (I feel dirty for using the word 'takeaway' but I can't think of anything that fits better to mean an overly-broad version of 'learning'.)
- nikatwork 13y ago> I think this can be well developed if it isn't exploited by privatization. Careful, you'll wake the Randroids.
- biot 13y agoSome other suggestions along the same lines as you suggest: Interrupt a court case so that the courtroom can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to quibbling over legal wording. Speak at a conference for accountants so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to fiddling with spreadsheets. Share this in sexual abuse groups so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to discussing their own troubles. Visit schools and interrupt classrooms so that they can appreciate the plight of dying African children before they get back to learning about math, English, or history. --- Or... how about we keep human interest stories that would otherwise be covered by major media off of HN unless there is a component of the story which is particularly hackerish and gratifies one's intellectual curiosity? As it stands, this story is little more than "large underground aquifers exist" which is unlikely to gratify anyone's intellectual curiosity any more than "large deposits of coal exist". If finding this aquifer was accomplished via innovative new technology, let's see the story on that. How about a discussion on Alain Gachet's WATEX publications which I understand to be the technological basis that enabled this find: http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-publications http://fr.linkedin.com/pub/alain-gachet/0/71a/93b#profile-pu...
- rabino 13y agoHere's a novel idea: Post that WATEX publication and let's see how many upvotes it gets vs. this one here. Let's allow democracy to do its thing.
- biot 13y agoI think there's a very good reason why pg and the editors actively curate HN (eg: blocking certain sites from submission) and don't let democracy do its thing: it doesn't stand a chance against Eternal September. (Besides which: those publications, like this story, aren't all that interesting from an intellectually gratifying perspective.)
- crusso 13y agoUltimately, he's a hypocrite for being here to dole out sarcasm rather than actually working on resolving the plight of dying African children that he implies outweighs others' petty concerns.
- mattm 13y agoIf you really hated to be that guy, you wouldn't have said anything.
- has2k1 13y ago(if (< hate-to-be-that-guy urge-to-be-that-guy) (be-that-guy) (not be-that-guy))
- saraid216 13y agoLesson learned. Never use hyphenated names. They're bloody unreadable.
- Dylan16807 13y agoYou're ignoring the 'think it's important that the point is raised' factor. If there was a user-visible flagging mechanism, then a hate-to-be-that-guy would use it and never feel any urge to make an annoying post, win-win. I strongly doubt that most people claiming to 'hate to be that guy' are lying.
- r00fus 13y agoYou do realize that users with sufficient karma can flag articles here, right?
- Dylan16807 13y agoI do realize that, which is why I said 'user-visible'. Flagging as HN currently has it can be used for moderation purposes, and for downvotes in extreme situations. But a user-visible flag would provide a warning to users that an article is fluff or otherwise problematic, and possibly attract more discriminating attention.
- frozenport 13y agoI would like to voice my support of this question. There are plenty of other places for this news, but few places for computer science stories. Perhaps www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/ ?
- chad_oliver 13y agoThat's great news. The aquifer is below a dry and poor region of Kenya, so I really hope that the government will be able to use the water to develop the region. This region will also have the LAPSSET transport corridor built in a few years. Put together, I'm feeling very positive about the future.
- has2k1 13y agoAnyone know how aquifer sizes are measured? I would guess a sonar based system.
- jdmitch 13y agoin this follow-on article (http://www.itv.com/news/2013-09-10/potential-significance-of-discovery-cannot-be-overstated/ http://www.itv.com/news/2013-09-10/potential-significance-of...) there are a few more details on how Alain Gachet discovered the aquifer: He takes existing satellite, radar and geological maps of the area and layers them on top of each other to create one all-encompassing study of what lies beneath the soil.
- herbig 13y agoWhat is ITV.com and why is no other news organization reporting this?
- bchjam 13y agoITV is a British TV network
- anigbrowl 13y agoThe BBC's main UK competitor. It's not really big news, but rather follow-up from an interesting disvoery about a year or so ago, which was widely covered eg http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2133339/Massive-underground-reserves-water-Africa.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2133339/Massi... which is a surprisngly good story by DM standards, but which I picked mainly because it has a good map.
- eliben 13y agoWhat ticks me about such announcements is that too often they don't really mean anything besides the media blowing things out of proportion. This is unfortunately very common in anything nutrition or health based, but often applies to scientific "breakthroughs" as well. The media picks up some vague research result and hyping it to make headlines. I just really hope this is not the case here, because it's truly good news for a dry region where water means everything. This, along with the large recent oil and natural gas discoveries kind of makes me wonder how many such additional surprises the earth crust hides, that will be discovered soon due to much better discovery technologies and computational resources.
- graeme 13y agoVery good news that it is replenished from mountains and thus is not a fossil aquifer. Should make it easier to manage.
- PakG1 13y agoI don't claim to understand African issues very well, so take my comments with the grain of salt that I'm very ignorant. The civil wars that happen in certain African nations are troubling. But what was more troubling to me was reading news how factions would take control by poisoning wells that provided water for citizens. It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas where water was scarce. Long-term effects seemed to be ignored in favour of short-term war gains. Having never experienced such a difficult situation, I can't process what kind of motivation and thinking could cause such horrific action. If such water supplies are found in areas where there is conflict, I worry that it only would add to the conflict, as they would be found as key tactical points to conquer and hold. It makes me sick that such good news brings such negative thoughts to my mind.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago> It was unthinkable to me that someone could actually do that, especially in certain areas where water was scarce. What would be the point of poisoning a well that nobody needed?
- PakG1 13y agoPoint taken, but I think you know what I meant. :P
- chad_oliver 13y agoYou raise some important issues, but if anything I actually think that this aquifer is going to reduce the conflict in this area. The civil wars, rape, and poisoning are all symptoms of a deeper illness: poverty. Africans aren't more corrupt or warlike than anyone else, they're just poorer and therefore more desperate. Conflict minerals (diamonds, coltan, etc) fuel conflict because they are easy to control. It only takes a relatively few men to control a mine, and any diamonds mined can easily be exported. In contrast, an aquifer is hard to control: each liter of water isn't worth that much, and Kenya doesn't have the infrastructure to export water anyway. The water won't really be a target for militia, but it will be able to be used to develop the region. More water gives more crops, which gives higher living standards, which gives less war. (As a side note, another potential benefit is that this aquifer will promote regional integration, since it's on the border between South Sudan and Kenya. South Sudan is in the process of applying for membership in the East African Community, which has the stated goal of eventually transforming into a political federation. I expect that the EAC will be a very strong driver for regional security.)
- ajtaylor 13y agoThis is certainly great news for the people of Kenya! I've always wondered how they estimate how long a water resource can last. In this case, they said 70 years. But does that take into account the increased usage/population the area will get now that it has more water? It seems to me that the water needs are ever growing, while the water source stays relatively the same.
- r0h1n 13y agoI wonder if Kenya's relative underdevelopment (compared to both western countries and farming countries like India/China etc.) is the reason this aquifer has remained undiscovered for so long. Nonetheless, I hope the people of Kenya will learn from the mistakes of those other countries when it comes to sustainable utilization of aquifer water instead of the indiscriminate use we've seen elsewhere. Links: NASA analysis of India's fast-depleting groundwater, including aquifers: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/india_water.html Economist piece on acquifers drying up around the world: http://www.economist.com/node/17199914 http://www.economist.com/node/17199914
- JabavuAdams 13y agoFantastic! Let's concoct some overly optimistic growth statistics for how this will stimulate the Kenyan economy. Let's say 19% for the first 10 years, then 15% for 10 more, then 12% for the next five. Based on those fudged figures, we'll convince the government to take on excessive debt to pay for water development, etc. projects. Since the figures are fudged, and since we'll do this hand in hand with local elites / kleptocrats, they'll never be able to repay the debt. We'll funnel this money right back to Western consulting and construction firms. When locals who are having their lives destroyed by the development projects start to demonstrate, we'll squeeze them until they turn to violence and call them terrorists. When the real international terrorists join in to fight the evil imperialists (us), we'll drone-strike, death-squad, and black-site them, citing our earlier failure to act in Sudan. Can you tell I've been reading _Confessions of an Economic Hitman_? I am excited about the new iPhone, though.
- rewind 13y agoThe positivity on HN lately is almost too much to handle.
- JabavuAdams 13y agoWe should be positive. We're the ones who end up on Elysium. Also, the new iPhone is really cool.
- rewind 13y agoPlastic is the new aluminum (although I really like the 5c, actually, though the case is an abomination).
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- geuis 13y agoThe topic isn't about iPhones. Its about finding an underground sea of freshwater and how that can help people. Lets keep the discussion on course.
- JulienSchmidt 13y agoExclusive rights on this reserve bought by Nestlé in 3.. 2.. 1..? http://www.worldcrunch.com/poisoning-well-nestl-accused-exploiting-water-supplies-bottled-brands/business-finance/poisoning-the-well-nestl-accused-of-exploiting-water-supplies-for-bottled-brands/c2s4503/ http://www.worldcrunch.com/poisoning-well-nestl-accused-expl...
- icoder 13y agoThis was exactly my thought after having seen a documentary about how Nestle does business
- riffraff 13y agowhich documentary? I'm always on the lookout for good documntaries.
- JulienSchmidt 13y agohttp://www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-film.html http://www.bottledlifefilm.com/index.php/the-film.html If you speak German, you can find a great free documentary here: http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/45_min/videos/minuten873.html http://www.ndr.de/fernsehen/sendungen/45_min/videos/minuten8...
- Maarten88 13y agoI saw that documentary too[1]. They will see this discovery not as 70 years of clean drinking water, but as 70 years of huge profits. They will do whatever it takes to buy exclusive rights and then pump it out as fast as they can (with little care for the environment), put it in bottles, then cleverly market and sell it to the local people who live there, for prizes that only the middle and upper classes can afford. They make billions that way. Sickening. Let's hope the government there will do good and keep multinationals like Nestle from ripping this water off the local people. [1] http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1364866 http://www.uitzendinggemist.nl/afleveringen/1364866 (dutch)
- glorio 13y agodont think this article suits in HN
- educating 13y agoDidn't something like this happen in the Left Behind series? African nation gets better irrigation and raises food for rest of nation, or something like that? Granted, Kenya isn't barren. Maybe they could build a water park.
- frank_boyd 13y agoSold to Nestlé in 3.. 2.. 1..
- losethos 13y agoVirtual-Notary.Org hereby notes that on Date: Wednesday September 11, 2013 02:42.22 EDT (UTC-0400) a random drawing in the range [1, 100000], inclusive, based on a hardware source of true randomness, yielded the following decision. Random Value: 34243 ---- 19:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 19:9 And when he heard say of Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, Behold, he is come out to fight against thee: he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah, saying, 19:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. 19:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered? 19:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed; as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Thelasar? 19:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? 19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 19:15 And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. ----- lock ness == Lachish
- sspiff 13y agoFinally, some positive news out of Africa! Let's hope we (both local governments and groups, and Western "aid") don't screw this up. I'm not familiar with the Kenyan political climate, so if anyone else has some experience or knowledge about this, could you enlighten the rest of us about whether the government is helping the population as a whole or serves minority interests? Is the country stable? Bordering Sudan, Ehtiopia and Somalia can't be easy.
- jessaustin 13y ago...whether the government is helping the population as a whole or serves minority interests? I'm not particularly knowledgeable about Africa, but as a human being I observe that all governments are a mix of these two activities. "Good" governments seem to focus more on the former (or maybe they have enough resources that minority interests can do well in less conspicuous fashion), but it isn't as though African governments come from a different planet than governments elsewhere.
- shire 13y agoI lived there for several years so I must say this is exciting I can only imagine how they feel, There are so many undiscovered territories on mother earth I'm just glad there is people out there not giving up on humanity and do what it takes to solve the big problems.
- muhfreedoms 13y agoCome to Kenya, we got water, Kenya belive it!
- Jongseong 13y agoGroundwater will become an increasingly important resource, and it will be especially critical in a region that experiences periodic droughts like East Africa. Kenya faces a water crisis, and water cuts were not uncommon even for those with access to tap water when I lived in Kenya around the turn of the millennium (I don't know how it is now). However, because of its perception as a common-pool resource—land owners think they are entitled to the water beneath their land—groundwater management seems to me to present a particular challenge. Are there any success stories in sustainable groundwater management that Kenya could look at? Kenya does have the framework for managing water resources, but it's a question of implementation and political will. Control over resources seems to often end up in the hands of influential individuals who operate with impunity.
- ekm2 13y agoI am amused by the comments on this post and even the story itself.Kenya's primary problem is not a lack of water.Around 70 percent of the land is rich with multiple rivers,which is why it is one of the leading producers of Tea and Coffee.Only some parts of Northern Kenya,around Lodwar have dry spells .Western Kenya has the opposite problem:flash floods that usually occur around April and March. Corruption and poor management of resources are the major headaches facing the country,not droughts.