Rainfall Variability and Quantity of Water Supply in Bamenda I, Northwest Region of Cameroon

Résumé

Abstract Bamenda I municipality found in the humid tropic is endowed with a dense hydrological network which makes it a water catchment for the entire region. Paradoxically, the region still suffers problems of water shortage. This is due to the spatial and temporal variability in rainfall that greatly affects water supply through its impacts on surface and groundwater. For this reason, we came up with the research topic “Rainfall variability and quantity of water supply in Bamenda 1, Northwest Region of Cameroon.” The objective of this study is to examine the manifestations of rainfall variability, and how it affects quantity of water supply in the humid tropics. Rainfall data use for this study comprised of annual, monthly, and daily rainfall over a period of 55 years. Water supply data was made of monthly and annual supply. With these data, a Pearson’s correlation was computed, and it gave a value of 0.701, with a rainfall proportion of 49.14% and 50.86% for other factors. The seasonality and the Standardized Precipitation Index were equally analyzed. At the end of the study, results showed that rainfall events in Bamenda I fluctuates with time and in space. It equally presented a reduction in the number of rainy days from 204 days in 1663 to 155 in 2018. This led to a reduction in length of rainy season and in rainfall amounts. In addition, the area has witnessed sedimentation of riverbeds and water reservoirs due to erosion and deposition during high rainfall peaks. Equally, floods observed during high rainfall episodes have become a potential threat to water infrastructures imposing exceptional water shortages during the rainy seasons. Due to these, actors in the water supply sector are putting in measures to remedy the situation.

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