Analysis of the Suitability of Surface Water for Irrigation Purposes The Southwestern and Coastal River Systems in Ghana英文文献资料.docVIP

Journal of Water Resource and Protection, 2011, 3, 695-710 doi:10.4236/jwarp.2011.310080 Published Online October 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/jwarp) Analysis of the Suitability of Surface Water for Irrigation Purposes: The Southwestern and Coastal River Systems in Ghana Sandow Mark Yidana , Patrick Asamoah Sakyi , Gareth Stamp 1* 1 2 1 Department of Earth Science, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana Department of Earth Science, University of California, Oakland, USA E-mail: Received April 3, 2011; revised July 11, 2011; accepted August 24, 2011 2 * smyidana@.gh Abstract Surface water basins all over the world are very crucial in irrigation industries. Irrigation schemes are par- ticularly crucial in the agricultural economies due largely to the fact that global climate change has led to drastic changes in rainfall patterns. As a result, rain-fed agriculture alone is no more sustainable and irriga- tion schemes are being encouraged as poverty reduction/eradication strategies in the developing countries. This study was conducted to assess the overall controls on surface water resources in the coastal and south-western river basins in Ghana, and determine the suitability of these surface waters for irrigation ac- tivities. Multivariate statistical methods were applied to data on the physico-chemical parameters from the coastal and southwestern river basins. This study finds that the quality of surface water from these basins is controlled principally by leachate of chemicals from solid and mine wastes, the chemistry of rainfall, weath- ering of underlying silicate mineral-rich rocks and sediments, agricultural and domestic wastes. All the pa- rameters are within the acceptable national concentration ranges for most domestic and industrial purposes. Sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) was used to assess the quality of water from the tw