Gullies and other forms of erosion have been the greatest environmental problem and catastrophe in most high- and low-income countries. The challenge posed by soil erosion has compromised agricultural productivity, environmental biodiversity and food safety for the world's population. It is important to identify vulnerable areas to soil erosion in each region to initiate remedial measures. This study demonstrates the use of watershed morphometry coupled with weighted sum analysis (WSA) to estimate the soil erosion susceptibility of the Imo River Basin sub-watersheds (SWs) in South-Eastern Nigeria using satellite remote-sensing data and geographic information system (GIS) analysis. To this end, Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM), a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) with 30 m spatial resolution was used to extract and analyse 18 morphometric parameters including basic, linear, shape and relief. The method of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves was used to validate the model's prediction accuracy. This morphometry-based analysis resulted in the SWs being classified into zones of low, medium, high and very high erosion susceptibility. With regard to erosion susceptibility, 41.51% of the basin (2494.68 km2) is in the very high priority zone; while 10.50%, 44.33% and 3.66% of the basin are in the high, medium and low priority zones respectively. Validation of the final erosion susceptibility map showed a prediction accuracy of 81%. The use of satellite imagery and morphometric analysis in this study was cost- and time-effective for identifying areas susceptible to soil erosion.
Notwithstanding the pre-drilling geophysical surveys, the failure rates and suboptimal productivity of some boreholes within the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) is calling for concern. On the background, this present study investigated the hydrogeological capability and potentiality of some borehole sites. To achieve this, an inventory of 47 boreholes with an existing lineament density map and Groundwater Potential Zonation (GWPZ) map of Ilorin South local government area were integrated. These boreholes were categorized based on the lineament density and groundwater potentiality. The results showed that 85% of the sampled boreholes were sited on zones of low groundwater potential (LGWP) while 15% were on zones of moderate groundwater potential (MGWP). Also, 4% of the boreholes coincided with zones of moderate lineament density and 96% of boreholes coincided with zones of low lineament density, and no borehole was found to coincide within areas of high lineament density. Conclusively, 83% of these boreholes (39 units) were drilled due to logistics motives (e.g., cost consideration, proximity to facilities, and/or as cosmetic projects) while only 17% of these boreholes (8 units) were drilled on account of scientific necessity or after the appropriate geoscientific evaluation was done. It is hoped that the findings in this study will benefit stakeholders and practitioners in water resource management.
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