A simple distributed water balance model for an urbanized river basin using remote sensing and GIS techniques

Abstract

Across most urban centres, adequate supply of water becomes essential for the urban poor. Attempts at ensuring water availability has been formulated using standard water models. This study developed a water balance model using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques during periods of water surplus and deficit across pre-millennium (1996 – 2000) and the post-millennium (2010 – 2014) periods within an urbanized Sub-Saharan city. Digital Elevation Model of the basin was prepared to generate flow direction and to delimit the watershed using ArcHydro tools in ArcGIS 10.3. Supervised classification was used to delineate the landuse classes from Landsat imageries. The result revealed that 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2010 and 2013 were periods of water deficit, while 1999, 2011, 2012 and 2014 were periods of water surplus. This study affirmed the need to reactivate institutional frameworks that are responsible for assessment, conservation, management and planning of water resources for sustainable utilization.