Assessment of Effective Groundwater Management in Parts of Sokoto Basin, North-Western Nigeria

Aim: There is paucity of information on groundwater modelling within Sokoto basin. Groundwater levels, borehole records, precipitation, evaporation, hydraulic conductivity, storage coefficients and boundary conditions, were obtained from Sokoto Basin Authority.

Study Design: Parts of Sokoto Basin.

Place and Duration of Study: Sokoto basin, between April 2017 and April 2021.

Methodology: The time series rainfall data was input in MODFLOW-2000 software to compute Long Term Average (LTA) annual rainfall. Runoff values were obtained using recharge model and simulated annual average recharge values were estimated. The numerical model was calibrated and validated using groundwater flow data. Model sensitivity was assessed using volumetric and percentage numerical error

Results: The LTA and simulated annual average recharge for study area was 745 mm/year and 3.6 - 15.2 mm/year. The modeled recharge fluxes and groundwater heads ranged from 4.756 x 10-10 - 1.142 x 10-5 m/s and 0.1-10 m. The relatively volumetric and percentage numerical error varied from 0.03 - 0.06 and 0.004 - 0.01%.

Conclusion: Quantitative assessment of groundwater resources in part of Sokoto Basin was developed for effective utilization and sustainability of groundwater resources.