Monitoring of Groundwater Recharge for Flood Management

Abstract

This paper proposes regular groundwater recharge estimation as a viable process capable of revealing possible occurrences of flooding in drainage basins for emergency actions and future water planning. Flooding is often monitored by considering the surface water flow/stream flow level. However, changes in groundwater levels can be a source of flood forecasting information. We inferred from results obtained from hydrograph separation and water table fluctuations methods carried out from stream flow and twenty (20) groundwater level monitoring in Ogun River basin that regular estimation of groundwater recharges in the basin area can assist in establishing the peaks of fluctuations, which can be a vital flood prevention mechanism.