Spatial Inventory of Potable Water Sources in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

Water, as a basic necessity of life, its availability, affordability, and accessibility remain very important to mankind. In pursuit of the actualization of Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), none of the SDG 6 targets are on track to be met. As of 2022, 2.2 billion people were without access to safely managed drinking water, and 3.5 billion lacked access to safely managed sanitation. Khana LGA in Rivers State, Nigeria, is the domain of a major ethnic group, as the study area. The main thrust of this study is to map the portable water sources in Khana LGA. The specific objective is the development of the spatial distribution characteristics of these sources with an associated database. The study adopted the descriptive research approach with Geospatial technology to analyze the pattern and interrelationship within the study area. The spatial information of potable water sources within the study area was determined using a handheld GPS receiver (Garmin 78csx). The data acquired were charted using QGIS software to validate the position of points acquired, shape files were also created, and the proximity of water sources was analyzed. The study showed that four (4) basic portable water sources, viz. flowing streams, earth dug-out wells, borehole water (private and public), and hand-pump water, were identified in the study area. Furthermore, we have a total of 598 identified water sources, 492 are functional, while 106 are non-functional. A comprehensive database of water sources and a spatial distribution of a thematic map of water sources were produced. The flow characteristics of the flow direction of streams within the study area were analyzed. Geospatial deployment in critical natural resource inventory is necessary for the realization of the SDG goals.