GIS based Groundwater Level Mapping in Ashanti Region of Ghana

2014

English

Groundwater is an essential resource for sustainable development all over the world. It is the most important source of domestic, industrial and agricultural water supply in Ghana. Notwithstanding the numerous contributions of groundwater resources in human development, groundwater causes problems and can be considered as a nuisance rather than a blessing in infrastructural development. Available depth to groundwater level information can be used to determine the effects of groundwater on civil engineering structures during the preliminary investigations. Borehole information on groundwater level across Ashanti Region was used to predict the depth to groundwater level. The data was interpolated using the kriging interpolation techniques in a GIS environment. The study shows that groundwater levels are spatially distributed and the depths range between 13m to 74m with an average depth of 43.5m, also groundwater level in districts where no information was obtained can be predicted from the map. Based on the map, the implications of groundwater level on construction activities and geotechnical design can be evaluated during the preliminary stage of projects implementation.

Ofosu, B.; Akayuli, C. F. A.; Nyarko, S. O.; Opuni, K. O.; Mensah, F. A.