Impact of Meteorological Drought on Streamflows in the Lobo River Catchment at Nibéhibé, Côte d’Ivoire

摘要

The management of water resources in watersheds has become increasingly difficult in recent years due to the frequency and intensity of drought sequences. The Lobo River catchment, like most tropical regions, has experienced alternating wet and dry periods. These drought periods have a significant impact on the availability of water resources in the basin. The objective of this study is to analyse the impact of meteorological drought on flows in the Lobo River catchment. Therefore, using the Normalized Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and the Drought Flow Index (SDI), the characteristics of droughts were studied. The results of this study show that meteorological droughts were more frequent than hydrological droughts in the Lobo River watershed. However, the hydrological drought was longer and more intense than the meteorological drought. The greater relationship between meteorological and hydrological drought was observed at the Daloa and Vavoua station (0.43 < r < 0.50) compared to the Zuenoula station (r < 0.5). In addition, there was a resumption of precipitation and runoff between 2007 and 2013 in the basin. The study of these climatic trends would be very useful in the choice of management and adaptation policies for water resources management.