GIS as a Tool in Analyzing Flood Occurrence and Its Impact on Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State Nigeria

Abstract

Flood is any flow of water, which overflows the natural or artificial banks of a body of water. Flooding is one of the fundamental environmental challenges that results from interaction between man and his environment. In Nigeria, Flooding is one of the most common environmental hazards and there is increasing vulnerability of populations and infrastructure to flooding and flood related hazards. This study used GIS as a tool to analyze the cause and the impact of flooding in the study area. The study used both primary and secondary data, through a questionnaire, geographic information system and remote sensing. The result showed that the nature of the basin in the study area resulted to the high volume of water in the major river (River Osun) during raining season, which resulted to overflow across its bank. Fieldwork shows that the river overflows its bank at 500 meters to the north and the south and the GIS analysis shows that over 1000 houses get affected at any point of flooding occurrences, hence the width of the river is less than 8 meters and the depth on the average in less than 10 meter over the bridge of the River Osun. The study recommends methods by which flooding could be controlled in the study area through regular dredging, effective waste management and drainage control.