TITLE:
Human-Nature Interactions in the Owo River Catchment, South-West, Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Olubunmi Adegun, Shakirudeen Odunuga, Olalekan Ajayi
KEYWORDS:
Rainfall, Land Use, Morphometry, Water Supply and Catchment
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.10 No.2,
January
24,
2019
ABSTRACT: This paper examines the interactions
and feedbacks between environmental and human variables within the Owo River catchment by analyzing land use change, morphometric
dynamics, rainfall stationarity and water quality using statistical approach. The
results show that built-up land use grew from 142.92 km2 (12.20%) in 1984 to 367.22 km2 (31.36%) in 2013 at an average growth rate of 7.73 km2 per annum. Total streams length reduced from 622.24 km in 1964 to 556 km in 2010
while stream density reduced from 0.53 in 1964 to 0.47 in 2010. The Mann-Kendall
trend test (p-value = 0.022) indicates rainfall
non-stationarity. The river has a low level of pollutant loading while annual water
abstraction balances water supply. The human environment interaction has not at
present critically affected water supply (quality and quantity) but continuous loss
of vegetation poses greater challenges.