2022年11月18日 VOA慢速英語：肯尼亞牧民在地下尋找水源

 

Letoyie Leroshi walked for five days in search of water. The rivers in Samburu County, Kenya, were dry after three years of little rain.
Letoyie Leroshi 步行五天尋找水源。肯尼亞桑布魯縣的河流在經(jīng)歷了三年少雨后干涸了。
 
Then, Leroshi, a cow herder, found a small wet area of sand on a dry river bottom. He brought a group of fellow herders to the site to help dig. They hit water, and the young men broke into a happy song.
隨后，牧牛人勒羅什在干涸的河底發(fā)現(xiàn)了一小片潮濕的沙地。他帶著一群牧民來到現(xiàn)場幫助挖掘。他們碰到了水，年輕人唱起了歡快的歌。
 
This water, known as groundwater, could be very helpful in an area dealing with a long period of too little water, or drought.
這種水被稱為地下水，對于長期缺水或干旱的地區(qū)來說可能非常有用。< br/>
 
Drought, groundwater
干旱、地下水
 
Climate change is making drought more likely. And people in East Africa and the Horn of Africa do not have the resources to tap groundwater effectively or widely.
氣候變化使干旱更有可能發(fā)生。而東非和非洲之角的人們沒有有效或廣泛開采地下水的資源。
 
For Leroshi and other Kenyan herders, the situation is difficult.
對于 Leroshi 和其他肯尼亞牧民來說，處境很艱難。
 
"We had thousands of livestock four years ago when we experienced short rains," he said. "We have lost hundreds of our cattle and are now worried that if the rains fail yet again, we will lose everything."
“四年前，我們有數(shù)千頭牲畜，當時我們經(jīng)歷了短暫的降雨，”他說。 “我們已經(jīng)失去了數(shù)百頭牛，現(xiàn)在擔(dān)心如果再次下雨，我們將失去一切。”
 
Leroshi and other herdsmen carry weapons to protect their animals from thieves.
Leroshi 和其他牧民攜帶武器以保護他們的牲畜免遭竊賊。
 
"Everyone else around is also armed and ready to steal our livestock," he said.
“周圍的其他人也都武裝起來，準備偷走我們的牲畜，”他說。
 
The United Nations water agency estimates that roughly 400 million people across Africa lack access to clean water.
聯(lián)合國水務(wù)機構(gòu)估計，非洲大約有 4 億人無法獲得干凈的水。
 
The British nonprofit group WaterAid and the British Geological Survey examined the situation. They found that Africa has enough groundwater for most countries to get through at least five years of drought.
英國非營利組織 WaterAid 和英國地質(zhì)調(diào)查局調(diào)查了這一情況。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)非洲有足夠的地下水供大多數(shù)國家度過至少五年的干旱。
 
In the coastal city of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania in 1997 drought led people to use groundwater. The same thing happened in Cape Town, South Africa in 2017. In Ethiopia, hand-pumped wells performed better than all other water sources during a drought in 2015 and 2016.
1997 年，在坦桑尼亞的沿海城市達累斯薩拉姆，干旱導(dǎo)致人們使用地下水。 2017 年南非開普敦也發(fā)生了同樣的事情。在埃塞俄比亞，在 2015 年和 2016 年的干旱期間，手抽水井的表現(xiàn)優(yōu)于所有其他水源。
 
Africa has 72 large underground areas of water, known as aquifers, that are largely unused, scientists say.
非洲有 72 個大型地下區(qū)域科學(xué)家說，被稱為含水層的水基本上未被使用。
 
Cautionary tales
警示故事
 
Experts also warn people about the danger of misusing groundwater.
專家還警告人們?yōu)E用地下水的危險。
 
Philip Wandera is a former director of the Kenya Wildlife Service and now with the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He said groundwater "is not a quick-fix answer for the current drought ... if you have been poor managers of surface water, it means you are likely to do the same with groundwater."
菲利普·萬德拉 (Philip Wandera) 是肯尼亞野生動物服務(wù)中心的前任主任，現(xiàn)供職于東非天主教大學(xué)。他說，地下水“不是解決當前干旱的速效辦法……如果你對地表水的管理不力，這意味著你很可能對地下水做同樣的事情。”
 
The U.N. reports that just three percent of the total farmed land in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated. It says only 5 percent of that land is irrigated with groundwater.
聯(lián)合國報告說，在撒哈拉以南非洲，只有百分之三的耕地得到灌溉。它說只有 5% 的土地用地下水灌溉。
 
Groundwater exploration and building projects are impossible without financing.
如果沒有資金，地下水勘探和建設(shè)項目是不可能的。
 
Agnes Kalibata, leader of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, said, "Smallholder farmers who make up most food producers on the continent," badly need irrigation technology.
艾格尼絲·卡利巴塔，綠色革命聯(lián)盟領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人在非洲，“構(gòu)成非洲大陸大部分糧食生產(chǎn)者的小農(nóng)戶”急需灌溉技術(shù)。
 
"Millions of people don't have enough safe, clean water to meet their daily needs, let alone face the climate crisis," said Tim Wainwright of WaterAid in the United Kingdom. He added, "Governments, along with the private sector, should use COP27 to agree on investments in responsible groundwater use," along with clear rules for how to use it.
“數(shù)以百萬計的人沒有足夠的安全、干凈的水來滿足他們的日常需求，更不用說面對氣候危機了，”英國 WaterAid 的蒂姆·溫賴特 (Tim Wainwright) 說。他補充說，“政府和私營部門應(yīng)該利用 COP27 就負責(zé)任地下水使用方面的投資達成一致”，以及如何使用地下水的明確規(guī)則。
 
COP27 is the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt.
COP27 是聯(lián)合國氣候變化大會發(fā)生在埃及沙姆沙伊赫。
 
The people in Samburu, however, cannot wait much longer. Many herders are almost at the point of losing everything.
然而，桑布魯?shù)娜藗兊炔患傲?。許多牧民幾乎到了血本無歸的地步。
 
 
"I have lost 30 cows in ... two weeks and if it continues like this we will lose many more. Our women and children are also severely affected," said 30-year-old herder Lemerwas Limayo. "Drought ravages all living things."
30 歲的牧民 Lemerwas Limayo 說：“兩周內(nèi)我失去了 30 頭牛，如果這種情況繼續(xù)下去，我們將失去更多。我們的婦女和兒童也受到嚴重影響。” “旱災(zāi)摧殘萬物”。