Is the Aquífero Guaraní a ghost?

If you have been in Paraguay more than a month, you have probably heard of the “Aquífero Guaraní” in a sentence like “Paraguay is located on the world’s largest aquifer, the Aquífero Guaraní. It supplies Paraguay with so much water that wherever you drill, you will get lots of water in your well.”

People picture the aquifer like an underground bathtub in which you can tap in anywhere to pump out the water. The funny thing is that drillers don’t agree with that. A driller with decades of experience in Paraguay told me “There is a lot of ideology around the Guaraní aquifer”. Another one with equally long experience and who is a native of the Guaraní people said “The Guaraní aquifer doesn’t exist. It’s an illusion.”

I often get calls from drillers after their client has gotten a dry bore, supposedly over the Guaraní aquifer. And even in regions where most wells have great yields at about 100m depth, like Colonia Independencia, dry bores happen, at 200 and even 300m depth. How is that compatible with the description of the famous aquifer?

I have a theory that the Guaraní aquifer is merely the consequence of drilling practices.

Drilling is very affordable in Paraguay and as long as the water is for personal use, no permit is needed. It is therefore very common for private people to drill deeper than 100m. Drilling 200m deep is not unusual. So if the water is at 120m depth, chances are high they will get water. And when the state drills, they often contract a driller to “drill until he hits water”. In such cases, the outcome will always be that they get water.

In France for instance, a permit is required to drill beyond 50m. But at 50m depth there is mostly rain water and in regions with little rain, the bore will consequently be dry. And for those who do get the permit to drill deeper, there are not many people who can afford drilling deeper than 100m. So if the water is at 120m depth on a property but the owner can only afford to drill 100m, then he will end up with no water.

So if my hypothesis is right, the Guaraní aquifer would extend to most parts of the world, as soon as they would adopt the same affordable and liberal drilling practices as in Paraguay. Isn’t that a good news!

Written by Marie Aichagui