A review of groundwater resource development in lower White Volta River basin of Ghana

Abstract

The Lower White Volta River Basin (LWVRB) has serious water supply deficit, since the demand for basic use exceed the current supply, however, transporting of treated water to the needy communities is financially unsustainable. The basin has a low borehole drilling success rate, but has the potential to produce high yielding boreholes. The frequent borehole drilling failure is attributed to a number of factors. These factors include limited aquifer recharge, dependent on fissured aquifers for groundwater flow, limited hydrogeological understanding of the LWVRB, poor selection and application geophysical method prior to borehole drilling. The study has shown that the target for groundwater exploration within the basin is the weathered and fractured zones around the depth of 150 m. It has also shown that effective integration of electromagnetic or two-dimensional magnetotelluric, two-dimensional resistivity and two-dimensional induced polarization methods for groundwater exploration prior the borehole drilling can improve the success rate.