Assessment of Ground Water Abstraction in Kwadon, Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area, Gombe State

Groundwater is the major freshwater store acting in the hydrological cycle. It provides water for human consumption, agriculture, industry and many groundwater-dependent ecosystems, especially during dry season and drought periods. This study “Assessment of Ground Water Abstraction in Kwadon, Yamaltu Deba Local Government Area” aimed at examine the quantity of water abstracted for various uses in the study area and its implications for future development. Field Measurement, Questionnaire and GPS device was used to collect information about water sources and uses in the study area and data collected were analyzed using T-test and descriptive statistics. The result shows that there is a significant difference in the depth of boreholes and wells between periods with minimum and maximum depth of 26m and 53.5 for boreholes and 12m and 21m for wells respectively. The study also revealed that Table water industries, Block industries, Fishpond, Water Vendors and Irrigation agriculture are the dominant activities that are using underground water with annual abstraction rate of 1785000m3, 1905600m3, 1818150m3, 3168000m3 and 1827100m3 respectively. A general decline in rainfall and geological nature of Gombe town has led to the over exploitation of groundwater in the study area. Sustainable groundwater management in the future requires groundwater to be used in a manner that can be maintained for an indefinite time without having unacceptable environmental, economic or social consequences.