Impacts of land use change on some water quality parameters

Human activities adversely impact on water resources and climate change, demanding localized solutions because of the origin of the drivers. The Barekese Basin represents an important watershed that provides water for drinking and agricultural production to communities in the catchment. However over the past three decades there has been persistent degradation of the watershed through arable farming activities, urban and industrial development, logging activities and lack of adequate toilet facilities along the catchment. This has cascaded to growing concern on the present state of the reservoir especially by the Ghana Water Company Limited which faces the task of maintaining the reservoir and treating the constantly deteriorating water quality for consumption. This study unravels land use and land cover change, its possible impacts on the Barekese reservoir water quality and quantity and explores its sustainable management. It adopts a three pronged methodology approach using social surveys, geographical information systems and water quality analysis to investigate the social, economic, and spatial causes of changes in the Barekese basin.