Flood Mitigation Parameters of Apiti Wetlands Soil in a Segment of Mamu River Basin, Nigeria

Abstract

Wetlands are essential components of our global ecosystem. They have important functions which include maintenance of the environment through mitigating the degree of flooding, regulating the local and global climate and lessening the degree of erosion by trapping sediments. The aim of this research is therefore to investigate how relevant wetland parameters mitigate flood in Apiti wetland soil of middle River Mamu basin of Nigeria. For the purpose of the study, the wetland was divided into three; A (the upland region), B (the flood plain), and C (the raffia palm area). The soil flood mitigation parameters examined are bulk weight, moisture content, and saturation water content. These were employed to calculate the volume of flood mitigation within three sub-sites of the wetland. The statistical methods employed were One Way ANOVA and Students t -Test to see whether differences occur in the flood mitigating ability of the soil. Results obtained show that flood mitigation was highest within study site B (flood plain) with 6.4 × 10 6 m 3 volume of flood mitigation and lowest in site A (upland region) with 1.5 × 10 6 m 3 . In conclusion we recommended that the study be scaled up to other wetlands in Nigeria.