Impact of Rainfall Variability and Land Use Change on River Discharge in South Cameroon
Climate change, climate variability, and anthropogenic forcings such as land use change are the main drivers of river discharge variability. However, an understanding of their simultaneous impacts on river discharge remained limited in some parts of the world. The objective of this article led by Valentin Brice Ebodé from the University of Youndé, Cameroon, was to investigate the effects of rainfall variability and land use change on river discharge in the Nyong basin (at Olama and Mbalmayo gauging stations) and some of its sub-basins (So’o and Mefou) over the 1950-2018 period. The authors showed that on the annual scale, rainfall decreased over the studied basins. Changes in maximum and minimum discharges was explained by land use change, with an increase of impervious areas and a decrease of forest cover. These results could be useful for long-term planning of water demand and use, as well as flood management in the basins.
