Seasonal Switching of Drinking-Water Sources from the Rainy to the Dry Season among Households in Somalia: Evidence from the 2022 Somalia Integrated Household Budget Survey

Water is the most basic requirement for life, yet for billions of people around the world, access to it is not a simple matter of having a tap or a well nearby. True water security depends on more than just the physical presence of infrastructure; it requires that water be available when it is needed, safe to drink, and accessible without excessive effort. In many parts of the world, particularly in dry and semi-arid regions, the availability of water changes dramatically with the seasons. During the rainy months, rivers may flow and rainwater can be collected, but when the dry season arrives, these sources can vanish, forcing families to find new ways to survive. This reality means that a household's water source is not a static fact but a dynamic part of daily life that shifts as the climate changes. Understanding how families navigate these shifts is crucial for improving health and welfare, especially in places where drought is a recurring threat.

Researchers in Somalia recently set out to map exactly how families in this fragile, drought-prone country adapt their water sources as the seasons turn. Using data from a massive national survey conducted in 2022, which covered over 7,000 households across the entire country, the study looked for a specific behavior: did a family's main source of drinking water change between the rainy season and the dry season? The team defined this "seasonal switching" simply as a household reporting that they used one primary source when the rains fell and a completely different one when the dry heat arrived. By analyzing these responses, the researchers could see not just where people got their water, but how their access to it held up—or broke down—over the course of a year.

The findings revealed that seasonal switching is a widespread and significant reality for Somali families. Approximately 17 percent of all households in the country, representing nearly 400,000 families, changed their main drinking-water source between the wet and dry seasons. This number is not uniform across the landscape; it varies sharply depending on where a family lives and how they make their living. The study found that the pattern of switching is deeply tied to the type of settlement. Households in cities were the least likely to switch, with only about 12 percent changing their source. In contrast, families in rural villages switched more often, at a rate of about 22 percent. The most dramatic shifts occurred among nomadic households, where more than one in three families, or 34 percent, had to find a new primary water source as the seasons changed. This suggests that while city dwellers often have a consistent supply, rural and nomadic communities are far more vulnerable to the seasonal drying up of their usual water points.

The geography of Somalia also plays a massive role in who has to switch sources. The researchers observed that the likelihood of changing water sources varied wildly from one region to another. In some areas, such as Mudug, very few families, less than 5 percent, reported switching. In other regions, like Bakool, nearly half of all households, or 49 percent, had to change their water source between seasons. This geographic patchwork indicates that the challenge is not just a national issue but a local one, driven by specific environmental conditions and the availability of infrastructure in each area. Even after accounting for these regional differences, the type of settlement remained a strong predictor: nomadic families were significantly more likely to switch than rural families, and rural families were more likely to switch than urban ones.

Interestingly, the study found that the reasons for switching were not primarily driven by how poor a family was or how many people lived in the house. The researchers looked closely at household size, whether a family was displaced from their home, and their economic status, but none of these factors independently predicted whether a family would switch sources. A wealthy family and a poorer family in the same village were equally likely to change their water source if the local conditions demanded it. This suggests that the ability to switch is less about a family's personal resources and more about the reliability of the water systems available to them in their specific location. When a local well runs dry or a river dries up, everyone in that area faces the same need to find an alternative, regardless of their bank account or family size.

For the families that did switch, the journey between sources was not a single, uniform path. The researchers traced the most common routes families took, revealing a complex web of adaptations. Some of the most frequent changes involved moving from piped water that flowed directly into the home during the rainy season to piped water that was only available in the yard or plot during the dry season. Others moved from a tubewell or borehole to water delivered by a tanker truck, or from collecting rainwater to using an unprotected dug well. These transitions show that switching is not a simple act of desperation but a diverse set of strategies. Some moves might keep families on relatively safe, managed systems, while others might force them toward sources that are less protected or more distant. The data did not allow the researchers to say whether every switch was good or bad, but it made clear that the experience of water access is fluid and changes with the weather.

This research highlights a critical gap in how we often measure water security. Standard surveys usually ask a household what their main water source is at a single point in time, which can paint a static picture that misses the seasonal reality. A family might be counted as having access to a "safe" source in the rainy season, only to lose that access when the dry season hits and they are forced to rely on something less reliable. The study argues that to truly understand water access in places like Somalia, planners and policymakers must look beyond a single snapshot. They need to account for the fact that water sources are not fixed; they are part of a seasonal cycle that can leave millions of families without their usual supply for months at a time. By recognizing that nearly one in six households changes its water source every year, and that this change is most severe for those living on the land rather than in the city, the study provides a clearer, more honest picture of the challenges facing Somali families as they navigate a changing climate.