Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Impact on groundwater source
The impact of this scenario on groundwater is shown in Figure 8.5. The
figure shows seasonal drops in groundwater storage during the irrigation
season which is completely replenished during the rainy season. This trend is
observed in the Anayari and Atankwidi catchments where groundwater
abstraction for irrigation activities is very active.
Figure 8.5
: Impact of 5% annual growth of irrigation on groundwater storage
Thus groundwater can sustain this extent of irrigation development, however,
significant seasonal drops in groundwater storage will be observed for the
Anayari catchment, implying that irrigators may need technologies that
abstract groundwater at deeper levels than the current situation.
Impact on surface water
The impact of this scenario on surface water is shown in Figure 8.6. In the
Atankwidi catchment there is no difference between streamflow under this
scenario and the current situation. But in the Yarigatanga catchment it is
observed that there is a slight drop in the streamflow during the month of
July. This is the period of the year when small reservoirs and groundwater
sources are filled. There is a drop of 3.9% of the total streamflow for the
Yarigatanga catchment.
In the Yarigatanga catchment, groundwater irrigation is minimal while
surface water irrigation is maximum compared to the other two. This implies
that the drop in streamflow is used in filling up the reservoirs of the
Yarigatanga catchment. The reason why no such observation was made in
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