Flooding Information System: A Case Study of Asa River, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria
Awoleye Sunday Raphael
Department of Surveying and Geoinformatics
Institute of Environmental Studies, Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin
ABSTRACT
Flooding is one of the environmental problems that have gained international recognition. As civilization increases, environmental problems increase as well. Following the Ogunpa River flooding at Ibadan which claimed about one hundred lives and destroyed properties worth millions of naira in 1988, attention have been given to flooding which constitute a threat to human existence in Nigeria. In 1995 and 2008, Asa river in Ilorin wrecked havoc rendering thousands homeless. The big question is “could they have been prevented? It is evident that settlements in urban areas appreciated with decrease in vegetation cover. Also, the
increased settlements led to an increase in impervious surfaces. Hence the available channels were not able to contain excess water during heavy rainfall. This paper examines the remote causes of flooding and
application of Geographic Information system (GIS) for the production of flooding information for an effective management of such environmental problem. Flood map showing the flood extent was produced from the geometric/location data acquired as a result of field work. Keywords: Flooding, GIS, Environment.
