Bridging the data gap: using remote sensing and open-access data for assessing sustainable groundwater use in Kumasi, Ghana
Bridging the data gap: using remote sensing and open-access data for assessing sustainable groundwater use in Kumasi, Ghana
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Date
2013
Authors
Potter, Estela Fernandes
Monney, Isaac
Rutten, Martine
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Journal of Water and Climate Change
Abstract
Groundwater use has significantly increased in the rapidly urbanising city of Kumasi, Ghana. But there is a lack of understanding of whether
the groundwater system can sustain the growing demand in the future amidst climate change and rapid urbanisation. Using remote sensing
datasets and a water balance approach, this study estimated the groundwater recharge and assessed how urbanisation has affected its
groundwater sustainability. Sustainability is investigated by comparing multi-annual groundwater withdrawals to long-term average annual
replenishment. Results show that while groundwater recharge has decreased by 80% from 1986 to 2020, mainly due to substantial (63%)
loss of permeable land, groundwater consumption has seen a six-fold increase. Groundwater consumption in 2020 exceeded the long term average groundwater recharge by 2.2Mm3
, suggesting that the current groundwater use trends are unsustainable for future ground water availability. Under a ‘business-as-usual’ scenario, a four-fold increase in groundwater consumption is predicted by 2050 while
climate change and land-cover changes may reduce groundwater recharge by 10% and 55% respectively. Practical measures such as promot ing artificial groundwater replenishment approaches, adopting low-impact development and instituting demand management measures
must be implemented in the Metropolis. This should be informed by further studies to ascertain the exact condition of the groundwater
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Citation
Potter, E. F., Monney, I., & Rutten, M. (2023). Bridging the data gap: using remote sensing and open-access data for assessing sustainable groundwater use in Kumasi, Ghana. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 14(9), 3237-3256.