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Journal of Environmental Hydrology
ISSN 1058-3912 |
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Electronic Journal of the International Association for
Environmental Hydrology
JEH Volume 17 (2009), Paper 19 Posted September 11, 2009 ESTIMATING THE STORAGE AND MAXIMUM ANNUAL YIELD OF THE AQUIFER SYSTEM IN NORTHERN GHANA AND THE POTENTIAL FOR IRRIGATION
John Apambilla Akudago1 2World Vision Ghana Rural Water Project, P.M.B, Tamale, Ghana. ABSTRACT Despite the water scarcity for sustainable agricultural production for improved livelihood for a majority of the Africa population, not much effort has been put in the exploitation of groundwater for irrigation. This may be partially attributed to lack of information on the storage capacities of the aquifer systems. An attempt has been made to estimate the maximum storage and average annual yield of the aquifer system in northern Ghana as a guide for groundwater irrigation in the area. This area is one of the poorest regions of the country and suffers from perennial seven months of severe drought. Though there have been some recharge studies, it is not clear if the aquifer system has enough storage capacity to accommodate the 1.26x1010 m3/year as the volume of water reported in literature. Data from population, long-term time series data of precipitation and discharge from rivers were analyzed in this study. The results show that the maximum groundwater storage is 6.44x109 m3 with average maximum yield of 4.57x109 m3/year. Current groundwater abstraction trends show that there is enough groundwater to support irrigation provided careful management principles of the aquifer system are adhered to. Reference: Akudago, J.A., L.P. Chegbeleh, M. Nishigaki, and N.A.Nanedo. 2009. Estimating the storage and maximum annual yield of the aquifer system in northern Ghana and the potential for irrigation. Journal of Environmental Hydrology, Vol. 17, Paper 19. CONTACT: John Apambilla Akudago Geo-Environmental Evaluation Lab Faculty of Environmental Science Okayama University 1-1, Naka 3-Chome, Tsushima Okayama 700-8530, Japan E-mail: jaakud@yahoo.com |
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