Peter Wasswa, Harriette Okal, Jane Tanner, Paul Kato, Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, Henri-Count Evans, Inga Grinfelde, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, Jasenka Gajdoš Kljusurić, João Carlos Correia Leitão, Chunlan Li, Newton R. Matandirotya, Bethwel Mutai, Gustavo J. Nagy, Thierry Razanakoto, Jame Schaefer, Goran Trbic, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga, Sane Pashane Zuka, Charles Galdies, Adriana Consorte-McCrea, Francisco Platas, Mittul Vahanvati, Pedi Obani, Safwatun Nida, Lucas Gabriel Zanon, Mayara Régia Sousa de Melo, Alison Glover, Roman Vakulchuk
Over recent years, many people have left their homes due to political persecution, conflicts, poverty, human right violations, climate-related disasters, and diseases. These people usually hosted by developing countries that still survive on limited budgets and often vulnerable to disasters and economic crises. It should be noted that migrants and displaced people are settled in camps where access to basic needs like water remains uncertain due to poor rapid assessments of water available potential. The study used GIS and remote sensing techniques to assess groundwater available potential in West Nile, Uganda, a known refugee host region having 12 districts (i.e., Maracha, Pakwach, Zombo, Yumbe, Adjumani, Nebbi, Koboko, Madi-Okollo, Obongi, Terego, Moyo, and Arua) with 6 camps (i.e., Rhino, Palorinya, Lobule, Imvepi, Bidi bidi, and Adjumani). The methodology involved analyzing seven groundwater occurrence control factors (e.g., rainfall, geology, land use, soil, DEM) using AHP approach and ArcMap to generate a groundwater available potential map which was then classified into three classes (i.e., poor, fair, and good). Areas with poor groundwater potential accounted for 4.9%, fair 88.3%, and 6.8% as good. Districts of Adjumani, Madi-Okollo, Obongi, and Moyo had good groundwater potential zones, whereas Pakwach and Nebbi had poor groundwater potential. Camps (i.e., Rhino and Polarinya) had relatively good groundwater potential zones while Lobulo and Bidi-bidi had poor potential. Therefore, the study’s findings can act as preliminary reference in rapid assessment of new water access points in West Nile settlement camps and other areas by humanitarian organizations. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
Department of Economics and Statistics, Kyambogo University-Uganda, Kampala, Uganda; Center for Food Security Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa Univesity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; The Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kwaluseni Campus, Matsapha, South Africa; Institute of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Engineering, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Jelgava, Latvia; Center for Sustainable Development (Greens), Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; School of Urban and Regional Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Centre, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Kgotso Development Trust, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; CERED, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Marquette University, Milwaukee, United States; University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Land Economy, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Blantyre 3, Malawi; Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta, Msida, Malta; Academy for Sustainable Futures, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom; Casa de Cultura de la UAEMéx en Tlalpan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico; School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom; Science Education Department of Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil; State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; The Open University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, Oslo, Norway; Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States; Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University-South Africa, Makhanda, South Africa; Department of Geography, Geo-informatics and Climatic Sciences, Makerere University-Uganda, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Water and Agricultural Resource Management, University of Embu-Kenya, Embu, Kenya
