Environmental Pollution Potential within the Burl River Basin of Liberia, West Africa

The recognition that water provides values for life and is an essential factor for conservation worldwide has led to an increasing need for research and best management practices. As a result, Graphical Information System (GIS) applications were developed to figure out the environmental pollution potential within the Burl River Basin. Burl River Basin has over the years experience minor cases of pollution resulting from diverse human activities; however, the current situation is becoming apocalyptic and needs further attention. Burl River of Liberia is a valuable freshwater resource providing water supply to households, industries, and localfarm owners, but the recent increase in subsistence farming, low scale mining, logging, settlement construction and other damaging activities such as indiscriminate waste disposal, climate change and population growth is damaging the river's support towards consumptive water uses. Hence, this paper evaluates the water quality risks in the river by using DIVA‐GIS, Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) 90 digital elevation model to derive the land‐use, slope, soil, and as well population growth factor in assessing the potential sources of pollution and suggested ways through which a more informed and better management approach can be adopted. Our hope is that lessons from the Burl River Basin can be replicated to other parts of Liberia and West Africa.