Geospatial Analysis of The Relationship Between Land Use/Land Cover and Surface Water Quality in Southern Yobe, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47514/kjg.2026.08.01.006Keywords:
Land, Water, Quality, Agriculture, Vegetation, Yobe.Abstract
Surface water quality in semi-arid regions is increasingly threatened by land use and land cover (LULC) changes, yet limited integrated assessments exist in Southern Yobe, Nigeria. This study examined the influence of LULC patterns on surface water quality using a geospatial-statistical approach. Satellite imagery from USGS was processed in ArcGIS version 10.0 for supervised classification into agricultural land, bare surfaces, vegetation, built-up areas, and water bodies. Thiessen polygon interpolation was applied to delineate zones of influence, while water samples were collected across Fune, Fika, and Nangere LGAs and analyzed for electrical conductivity (EC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), chloride, total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) following APHA (2017) standards. Correlation and regression analyses in SPSS 26 established relationships between LULC types and water quality parameters. Results revealed agricultural land and bare surfaces as dominant covers, significantly elevating EC, TN and temperature through nutrient enrichment and sedimentation. Conversely, vegetation cover revealed strong buffering capacity, reducing and EC, while built-up areas showed emerging but limited impacts on water quality. Chloride, COD, and TP exhibited weak or no significant associations with LULC under current conditions. The findings highlight agriculture and soil exposure as key drivers of water degradation, while vegetation acts as a critical stabilizer. The study recommends adopting sustainable farming practices, afforestation, erosion control, urban runoff management, and integrated land-water governance. Continuous monitoring of nutrient and sediment-related parameters is essential. The study concludes that water quality sustainability in Southern Yobe depends on proactive land management aligned with catchment protection strategies.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ibrahim Abubakar Audu, Usman Adamu, Nura Garba (Author)
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