Groundwater Resource Appraisals of Bodinga and Environs, Sokoto Basin North Western Nigeria

Abstract

The groundwater resources of semi-arid region of Bodinga town and its environs within the Sokoto basin of Northwestern Nigeria have been evaluated. Data obtained at site during pumping test sessions which lasted for a period of between 8-12 hours for a total of 67 boreholes in the area of study were used alongside Information gathered from the careful analysis of lithological logs of the drilled Boreholes. The Hydraulic conductivity for the Kalambaina, Wurno, and Taloka formations are 22.00x10 m/s , 8.00x10^-1 m/s, and 1.02x10 m/s and respectively with an average of 3.00x10 m/s for the area. The Transmissivity calculated for these formations are 167.54x10 m²/s, 3.02x10 m²/s and 3.00x10 m²/s respectively while the average total for the area is. 20.30x10 m²/s. Specific capacity for the Kalambaina is 140.00x10 m²/s/m, for Wurno the value is 2.10x10 m²/s/m while Taloka formation have a value of 2.35x10 m²/s/m and the mean computed for this part of the basin is 16.30x10 m²/s /m. Yield is between 0.23 l/s and 6.7 l/s. The calculated properties show the area to be rich in groundwater resources mainly tapped from the coarse sandy and cavernous/jointed limestone layers. However the high drawdown values recorded in some of the boreholes is attributed to the presence of silt- clay materials which act as aquiclude. The high yielding boreholes are those with thicker and sandy aquifer material and less drawdown, however the area have high groundwater resource that is partly affected by the presence of silt and clay intercalations within the sandy Aquiferous units.

Keywords: Groundwater, Transmissivity, Coarse-sandy layer, Aquiclude, Semi-confined, Sokoto basin.