GroMoPo Metadata for Besease Inland Valley Bottom model

The harsh climate, shallow and erodible soils of low fertility uplands have led to farmers extending their cultivable areas to wetlands for optimal crop production since these systems have the potential for irrigation in the dry season. Inland valleys have been cited as having high potential for development of rice-based, small-holder farming systems at the village level, due to their specific hydrological conditions and relatively high soil fertility. This paper applies a 3D groundwater flow model, PM-WIN MODFLOW to simulate the groundwater heights of the two layered alluvial aquifer of the Besease Inland Valley Bottom. Groundwater recharge estimates from the watertable fluctuation method was used as the recharge input into the model. The results showed that groundwater levels ranged from 259.10-259.97 m in the wet season and 258.19 -258.86 m in the dry season for the simulation period. It also exhibited a form of interaction between the inland valley wetland and the bordering Oda River which varied over time depending on the river stage. The values for storage from the model were substantial and indicated the temporal variability in the watertable with continuous movement of water to and from storage over an annual cycle. Sensitivity analysis was performed, and model outputs were found to be highly sensitive to the catchment parameters such as horizontal hydraulic conductivity, specific yield and specific storage. The model helps to unravel the relationship between recurrent spatial and temporal patterns of watertable response within the inland valley bottom and their controlling factors.