A methodology for groundwater resource management at village level: a case study at Dassui Commune, Burkina Faso

Collection of groundwater level and abstraction data are essential components of successful groundwater resource management, at local and regional scales. This paper describes the collection and use of data collected by villagers relating to an irrigated market gardening project in a remote community in Burkina Faso. It identifies important insights that can be gained into the behaviour of a groundwater system from these data and how this can result in improvements to project outcomes. It is shown that village-level data collection can be highly effective and inform future options to ensure that water resources are used sustainably. Data analysis also indicated that irrigation efficiency was low leading to the need to investigate alternative, improved methods.