Recharge Estimation of Hard Rock Aquifers under Sahelian Climate Conditions Using Water Table Fluctuation: Case Study of Tougou Catchment, Burkina Faso

This study aims to characterize water table fluctuations and estimate groundwater recharge in the Tougou catchment located in the Sahel zone of Burkina Faso. Water table fluctuation and groundwater budget approaches are developed on an experimental site equipped with observation wells. The trends of water fluctuations in the different layers of the weathering profile are similar. There is a time-lag response of groundwater recharge to the daily precipitation occurrences. The interaction between the upper (clayey alteration) and lower (transition zone-fractured schist complex) parts of the weathering profile shows that generally the hydraulic head in the upper part is higher than that of the lower part due to difference in drainage porosity. The latter varies at the catchment scale between 0.006 and 0.009 and is inversely proportional to the saturated thickness of the clayey alteration layer. The groundwater recharge is annually estimated between 36 and 49 mm, which correspond to 6% and 9% of mean annual rainfall in the catchment. Annual evapotranspiration was estimated to be about 223 to 443 mm.