Hydrogeology of Liberia

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Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of Liberia


This page has limited information and needs to be updated. If you have more information on the hydrogeology of Liberia , please get in touch!


Compilers

Dr Kirsty Upton and Brighid Ó Dochartaigh, British Geological Survey, UK

Please cite this page as: Upton, Ó Dochartaigh and Bellwood-Howard, 2018.

Bibliographic reference: Upton K, Ó Dochartaigh BÉ and Bellwood-Howard, I. 2018. Africa Groundwater Atlas: Hydrogeology of Liberia. British Geological Survey. Accessed [date you accessed the information]. https://earthwise.bgs.ac.uk/index.php/Hydrogeology_of_Liberia

Terms and conditions

The Africa Groundwater Atlas is hosted by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and includes information from third party sources. Your use of information provided by this website is at your own risk. If reproducing diagrams that include third party information, please cite both the Africa Groundwater Atlas and the third party sources. Please see the Terms of use for more information.

Geographical Setting

Liberia. Map developed from USGS GTOPOPO30; GADM global administrative areas; and UN Revision of World Urbanization Prospects. For more information on the map development and datasets see the geography resource page.

General

Estimated Population in 2013* 4,294,077
Rural Population (% of total) (2013)* 51.1%
Total Surface Area* 96,320 sq km
Agricultural Land (% of total area) (2012)* 28.1%
Capital City Monrovia
Region Western Africa
Border Countries Sierra Leone, Guinea, Cote d'Ivoire
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal (2013)* 130.8 Million cubic metres
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Agriculture (2013)* 9.4%
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Domestic Use (2013)* 54.4%
Annual Freshwater Withdrawal for Industry (2013)* 36.2%
Rural Population with Access to Improved Water Source (2012)* 63%
Urban Population with Access to Improved Water Source (2012)* 86.8%

* Source: World Bank


Climate

Koppen Geiger Climate ZonesAverage Annual PrecipitationAverage Temperature

Average monthly precipitation for Liberia showing minimum and maximum (light blue), 25th and 75th percentile (blue), and median (dark blue) rainfall Average monthly temperature for Liberia showing minimum and maximum (orange), 25th and 75th percentile (red), and median (black) temperature Quarterly precipitation over the period 1950-2012 Monthly precipitation (blue) over the period 2000-2012 compared with the long term monthly average (red)

More information on average rainfall and temperature for each of the climate zones in Liberia can be seen at the Liberia climate page.

These maps and graphs were developed from the CRU TS 3.21 dataset produced by the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, UK. For more information see the climate resource page.

Surface water

Liberia has a number of major river systems originating in neighbouring countries and flowing generally from northeast to northwest, which drain the vast majority of the country. There are also a number of short rivers in the coastal zone that flow directly into the sea.

Major surface water features of Liberia. Map developed from World Wildlife Fund HydroSHEDS; Digital Chart of the World drainage; and FAO Inland Water Bodies. For more information on the map development and datasets see the surface water resource page.

Soil

Soil Map of Liberia, from the European Commission Joint Research Centre: European Soil Portal. For more information on the map see the soil resource page.

Land cover

Land Cover Map of Liberia, from the European Space Agency GlobCover 2.3, 2009. For more information on the map see the land cover resource page.


Geology

The geology map on this page shows a simplified version of the geology at a national scale (see the Geology resource page for more details). More information is available in the report UN (1988) (see References section, below).



Geology of Liberia.Developed from USGS map (Persits et al. 2002). For more information on the map development and datasets see the geology resource page.

Hydrogeology

The hydrogeology map below shows a simplified version of the type and productivity of the main aquifers at a national scale (see the Hydrogeology Map resource page for more details).

More information on the hydrogeology of Liberia is available in the report United Nations (1988) (see References section, below).

 

Groundwater management

Water point databases exist with information on more than 3,000 hand dug wells and more than 600 boreholes in Liberia, although information for some parts of the country is not yet recorded. Most of this information was collated during the 2011 Liberian Waterpoint mapping project. Most of the waterpoints recorded are groundwater sources - hand dug wells or boreholes, although only protected (improved) hand dug wells are recorded in the database. The waterpoint database does not contain much groundwater information: no geological log information is available for the groundwater sources, and most have no information on groundwater (rest/static) level. Some qualitative water quality information is available. The waterpoint database is available to view and download at the WASH Liberia website.


Transboundary aquifers

For further information about transboundary aquifers, please see the Transboundary aquifers resources page.

References

References with more information on the geology and hydrogeology of Liberia can be accessed through the Africa Groundwater Literature Archive.

United Nations. 1988. Groundwater in North and West Africa: Liberia. United Nations Department of Technical Cooperation for Development and Economic Commission for Africa.


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Africa Groundwater Atlas >> Hydrogeology by country >> Hydrogeology of Liberia