Watershed Characteristics and Their Implication for Hydrologic Response in the Upper Sokoto Basin, Nigeria

Abstract

Most African river basins lack flow data, a condition which has affected river basin operations. Flood is a common occurrence on the Sokoto basin but poor data base has affected various research efforts and flood mitigation attempts in the basin. This present study will study basin variables using a GIS approach with a few to gaining insights to the flood potentials of Sokoto basin. Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) image covering 5^o-7^o E and 12^o to 14^oN was used in this study. The analysis was carried out using the Integrated Land and Water Information System (ILWIS) and ArcGIS environments. Sinks were removed from the STRM, and the flow direction map was generated as an input for drainage extraction, river ordering and basin catchment extraction. Drainage network overlay was carried out on the generated hill-shade map and on a portion of SPOT image covering the Upper Sokoto catchment for visual analysis. Altogether, 44 basin variables were generated with a view to appraising flood and water resource management in the basin. The results showed that the Upper Sokoto basin is an alluvial catchment; located in a relatively low lying area where high level of deposition is experienced. It is sinuous in nature, circular in shape and compact. These characteristics coupled with the relatively high volume of precipitated water of 14,511,439,620 m³/year are indications that the basin has high flood potential. The paper recommends construction of levees to protect farmlands, efficient reservoir operation and sustainable watershed management for the purpose of environmental management in the Sokoto basin

Sub-basin prioritization for assessment of soil erosion susceptibility in Kangsabati, a plateau basin: A comparison between MCDM and SWAT models

“…Basin morphometric parameters play significant role to determine the earth system processes in surface, incorporating geomorphology, geology and hydrological sets-up (Ifabiyi and Eniolorunda, 2012;Balasubramanian et al, 2017). Moreover, relief and drainage system in the entire basin, have great influence on soil erosion vulnerability, whereas three major morphometric aspects like linear, relief and shape, have control the runoff volume and infiltration capacity (Sharma et al, 1986;Hembram and Saha, 2018).…”

Hydrochemical characterization of shallow and deep groundwater in Basement Complex areas of southern Kebbi State, Sokoto Basin, Nigeria

“…1) and are underlain by Pre-Cambrian Basement Formation (Akujieze et al 2002;Joseph and Bamidele 2018;Oseji and Egbai 2019). Groundwater in the study area is generally available in small quantity derived from fractures and tabular partings and from the regolith, just below the earth surface (Anderson and Ogilbee 1973;Edet 1990;Paul and Bayode 2012;Odukoya 2015). The fissures are usually most open above a depth of 91 m but even so, yields to boreholes are relatively low and cause high drawdown (Anderson and Ogilbee 1973;Offodile 2002).…”

Evaluation of morphometric parameters and hypsometric curve of Arkavathy river basin using RS and GIS techniques

“…The circularity ratio and elongation ratio of Arkavathy river basin are 0.288 and 0.25, respectively, which are low. The compaction coefficient of the basin is 1.823 which is high in comparison with the value stated by Paul and Bayode (2012). According to Waikar and Nilawar (2014), basins with elongation ratio higher than 0.9 are circular in shape, and basins with elongation ratio less than 0.7 are elongated.…”

“…Therefore, coupled with human interventions observed extensively across the basin there is increased flood risk in Arkavathy river basin for streams of orders 3 and 5 that also depends on combination of factors such as the intensity of precipitation, vegetation cover and nature of such human intervention. However, according to Paul and Bayode (2012), the time of peak, time of concentration and the peak discharge are dependent on the shape of the basin. Another important Table 4 is that the stream lengths of orders 1, 2 and 4 constitute 83.5% of the total length of the stream network that indicate higher scope for infiltration, which can be utilized through construction of ground water recharge structures across these stream orders.…”