Abstract
Understanding the hydrologic budget is crucial in planning for community based water supply. The water budget includes rainfall intensity, groundwater recharge, interception, evapotranspiration, and surface runoff. The percentage of rain going to recharge groundwater, rivers, and lakes is very important from the standpoint of human water consumption and ecosystems service. The objective of this work is to determine the recharge potential of groundwater in the Mokonde Community, Southern Sierra Leone. The community is dependent on wells as the main source of domestic water supply. This research need was born out of the absence of available data to show the relationship between rainfall amounts and groundwater recharge in the study area. In this study we monitored groundwater in a well at the United Methodist Church (UMC) compound at Ngegba Street. Automatic water logging devices were deployed to take readings in water level fluctuations every 15 minutes. Monitoring continued throughout the hydrological year of Sierra Leone. A rain gauge was deployed at neighboring UMC Primary School, and daily rainfall records taken at 9:00 a.m. Our team members also deployed at the well on a daily basis to collect data on abstraction of water. The results revealed, through a 29-year rainfall data and the Specific Yield, that 1170 mm of rainfall (48%) was the maximum potential of rainfall that would make groundwater a convenient source of water supply in the area. This demand was higher with the recent 1-year rainfall data. Increase in settlement had likely led to reduction in pervious area, and hence more and more rainfall needed for recharge. The time it took for maximum recharge (4 weeks) was shorter than that for maximum discharge (28 - 30 weeks). Groundwater flowed southwards towards the Gbengitay stream, which drained into the Tia River. These results would inform first step in delineating the water balance in the study area. Future studies could include the quality aspect, stream/river flow, interception and evapotranspiration. These pieces of information are required to help informed decision for water security.
Highlights
The Mokonde Community in southern Sierra Leone is dependent on wells as the main source of domestic water supply
The problem is that the water levels drop as we enter into the dry season, probably resulting from base flow and daily abstraction by people: rainfall becomes minimal; discharge becomes greater than recharge [10]
The rationale was to use the outcome of this study as a first step in accounting for the water balance in the study area
Summary
The Mokonde Community in southern Sierra Leone is dependent on wells as the main source of domestic water supply. Preliminary survey results reveal that the wells are shallow and it is accessible for water, in the rainy season. The consumers agree that the water is palatable in terms of color, taste and odor. A water security project that focuses on improving groundwater resources in this community will sound meaningful to the consumers. Sustainable groundwater use plans must follow from understanding availability in space and time as well as quality. This work seeks to delineate the minimum amount of rain required to recharge the groundwater resources in the area. The rate of discharge and its underlying factors are studied
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