HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES AND WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SOKOTO BASEMENT COMPLEX REGION.

Gada, M.A.* and Abubakar, S.D.

The achieved success reported by WHO and UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) in March 2012, on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) target 7c was greeted with outcries regarding the skewedness of the reported global figures. This is in view of the fact that there are still about 783 million people (more than one in 10 people in the world) without access to drinking water. This paper is aimed at examining the hydrological processes and water resource management in Sokoto basement complex. To achieve this, a one dimensional model was developed and utilised to assess the state of water distribution within the study area using measured meteorological variables and information about different landscapes within the complex. The model simulated the soil water storage as well rates of input and output of water in response to climate using data from 1991 to 2000 inclusive. The study identified six major geomorphological landscape units which significantly controls the hydrological behaviour of the basement complex catchment; the paper also revealed that the hydrological processes within the basement complex area are influenced by the spatial variability of key landscape features including the vegetation characteristics, soil properties and the depth of the weathered material or regolith. This study concludes that modelling approach can be used to assess the hydrological situation and to better understand water distribution within a basement complex for appropriate development. The paper suggest that for water resource management, the rich areas to be targeted are the fadama, fractured rocks and cultivated landscapes; while areas to be avoided are the nonfractured rocks, bare surface and forests landscapes.

Key words: Hydrological Processes, Water Resource Development, Basement Complex, Modelling, Semi-Arid.