Climate change and its impacts on water resources in the Bandama basin, Côte D'ivoire

Abstract

This study aims to assess future trends in monthly rainfall and temperature and its impacts on surface and groundwater resources in the Bandama basin. The Bandama river is one of the four major rivers of Côte d'Ivoire. Historical data from 14 meteorological and three hydrological stations were used. Simulation results for future climate from HadGEM2-ES model under representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP 8.5 scenarios indicate that the annual temperature may increase from 1.2 °C to 3 °C. These increases will be greater in the north than in the south of the basin. The monthly rainfall may decrease from December to April in the future. During this period, it is projected to decrease by 3% to 42% at all horizons under RCP 4.5 and by 5% to 47% under RCP 8.5. These variations will have cause an increase in surface and groundwater resources during the three periods (2006-2035; 2041-2060; 2066-2085) under the RCP 4.5 scenario. On the other side, these water resources may decrease for all horizons under RCP 8.5 in the Bandama basin.