MAPPING THE GROUNDWATER POTENTIAL IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: THE CASE OF THE COMMUNE OF LOUMBILA, BURKINA FASO

Abstract

The objective of this study is to identify and map potential groundwater resource areas in the rural commune of Loumbila in order to assess the potential water accessibility in the area. A spatial data analysis was applied to identify potential groundwater resource areas for drilling. To this end, geomatics tools (Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing) and a multi-criteria analysis using the Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique were deployed. A total of eight (decision) factors with a strong influence on the groundwater storage potential (i.e., soil types, fracture network density, land use, slope, hydrogeology, alterity thickness and drainage density, precipitation) were selected and mapped. An appropriate weight has been assigned to each factor, which were further normalized using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Based on the analysis, the rural commune of Loumbila was qualitatively classified into five groundwater potential zones: very low, low, medium, high and very high groundwater potential. The results obtained show that 9.80% (14.75 km2), 22.02% (33.16 km2), 30.68% (46.19 km2), 18.47% (27.81 km2) and 19.03% (28.65 km2) of the rural municipality of Loumbila have very high, high, medium, low and very low groundwater potential, respectively. The groundwater potential mapping aims to identify the areas with the highest potential for the sustainable management of groundwater resources, enabling informed decisions to be taken for its management and conservation.