Abstract:
In the economically-important but data-poor trans-boundary White Volta Basin shared between
Ghana and Burkina Faso, information on the amount and timing of sediment loads is very
limited. Monitoring of sediments is almost always ignored when designing Water Resources
Information Systems (WRIS) in the Volta Basin, resulting in lost opportunities to expand our
understanding of the hydrological processes (including sediment transport processes, erosion and
sedimentation) at the river-basin scale. This paper presents the results of a study using surrogate
techniques for estimating long-term sediment loads as a function of turbidity and stream flow
data at Nawuni in the White Volta Basin. A comparison is made between the suspended
sediment concentration (SSC) derived from a simple linear regression model and multiple linear
regression model. The simple-linear regression model relating turbidity to SSC was found to be
the most reliable method of estimating the SSC at Nawuni in the White Volta Basin. Due to the
cost associated with collecting SSC and inadequate funding by the two riparian countries, this
method presents a more reliable and accurate means of estimating long-term suspended sediment
concentrations and loads than the traditional sediment rating curve relating SSC to streamflow in
the White Volta Basin. |
