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An assessment of the risk associated with urban development in the Thiaroye area (Senegal)

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Water quality data from 56 wells, aquifer characteristics, soil types and land use in the city suburb of Dakar were compared to assess the effects of land use on the Thiaroye groundwater quality. The study area encompassed an unsewered densely populated zone, agricultural land, low density villages, and undeveloped land located in the sand dunes. A method similar to GIS technologies was applied to evaluate the degree of vulnerability of the different parts of the aquifer in relation to urban development, land use and aquifer characteristics. The aquifer parameters (hydraulic conductivity, groundwater level depth, recharge, soil type) were re-evaluated qualitatively into three class rankings (high, moderate and low), depending on the likelihood for contaminants reaching the water table, then combined using the two matrix Boolean logic based approaches to identify the nine classes of vulnerability assessed in the aquifer domain. An attempt was made to explain the distribution of nitrate concentration with the assessed vulnerability. In the area assessed, in the densely populated zone running from Pikine, to Thiaroye and Yeumbeul, very high nitrate concentrations correspond with the highest vulnerability index (H1). Nitrate contamination in this area is a consequence of point-source seepage from individual septic systems improperly built in this area. In the eastern part of the aquifer, high nitrate concentrations at Deni B. Ndao, Mbawane and Golam localities coincide with a moderate vulnerability assessment. The major source of nitrate in these areas is induced by agricultural activities.

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Acknowledgement

This study was financially supported by a grant from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to the first author.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Géologie, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD), P.O. Box 5005, Dakar, Sénégal

    Seynabou Cissé Faye & Serigne Faye

  2. Lehrstuh1 Angewandte Geologie, Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Universitätsstrasse 150, 44801 , Bochum, Germany

    Stefan Wohnlich

  3. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), P.O. Box 100, 1400 , Vienna, Austria

    Cheikh Bécaye Gaye

Authors
  1. Seynabou Cissé Faye
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  2. Serigne Faye
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  3. Stefan Wohnlich
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  4. Cheikh Bécaye Gaye
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Correspondence to Seynabou Cissé Faye.

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Cissé Faye, S., Faye, S., Wohnlich, S. et al. An assessment of the risk associated with urban development in the Thiaroye area (Senegal). Env Geol 45, 312–322 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0887-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0887-x

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