New Water Policy and Practice Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015 | Page 33

New Water Policy and Practice - Volume 1, Number 2 - Spring 2015

Environmental Pollution Potential within the Burl
River Basin of Liberia, West Africa
N. Macpherson DavidA & Amos T. Kabo-bahB

The recognition that water provides values for life and is an essential factor
for conservation worldwide has led to an increasing need for research and
best management practices. As a result, Graphical Information System (GIS)
applications were developed to figure out the environmental pollution potential
within the Burl River Basin. Burl River Basin has over the years experience minor
cases of pollution resulting from diverse human activities; however, the current
situation is becoming apocalyptic and needs further attention. Burl River of
Liberia is a valuable freshwater resource providing water supply to households,
industries, and local farm owners, but the recent increase in subsistence farming,
low scale mining, logging, settlement construction and other damaging activities
such as indiscriminate waste disposal, climate change and population growth is
damaging the river’s support towards consumptive water uses. Hence, this paper
evaluates the water quality risks in the river by using DIVA-GIS, Shuttle Radar
Topographic Mission (SRTM) 90 digital elevation model to derive the landuse, slope, soil, and as well population growth factor in assessing the potential
sources of pollution and suggested ways through which a more informed and
better management approach can be adopted. Our hope is that lessons from the
Burl River Basin can be replicated to other parts of Liberia and West Africa.
Keywords: Freshwater, GIS application, Human population, Marine or
Coastal Environment, Water quality

1 - Introduction

I

ncreased human activities along the freshwater to marine or coastal environment
have exponentially triggered a significant change, thereby endangering the integrity
of water uses across Liberia. The nation-wide comprehensive food-security and
nutrition survey (CFSNS) carried out in 2006 concluded that 68 percent of Liberians
rely on untreated wells, rivers, ponds, creeks, and swamps for drinking water (Pruss
and Havelaar, 2006). The Mano and St. John rivers in Grand Cape Mount and Nimba
Counties, respectively, are increasingly polluted from dumping of iron ore tailings, and
the coastal waters from oil residue and dumping of untreated sewage and waste water,
A

College of Environment, Hohai University, P.R. China
Department of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Energy and Natural Resources,
Ghana
B

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