Sierra Leone Hydrology
Five main rivers flow from northeast to southwest across Sierra Leone: the Little Scarcies, Rokel, Jong, Sewa and Moa rivers. In addition, there are six smaller drainage basins: the Great Scarcies, Lokko, Rokel Estuary, Western, Robbi/Thauka and Sherbro Water Resources Areas. River runoff is highly seasonal, reflecting the seasonal distribution of rainfall. In the Rokel river, discharge increases from
Surface Water
There are 12 River Basins and Water Resources Areas in Sierra Leone. River Basin areas have recently been redrawn and recalculated using HydroSHEDS software. Three of the River Basins (Great Scarcies, Little Scarcies and Moa) originate in Guinea, while the Mano River Basin originates in Liberia.
Ground Water
Groundwater is a vital element of the natural water cycle helping to sustain river levels and inland valley swamps in the dry season. Groundwater is the main source of drinking water for rural communities in Sierra Leone and the groundwater storage is limited. Nearly 80% of Sierra Leone sits on geological formations collectively referred to as Basement Complex or crystalline basement. Basement aquifers of significant extent occur across much of sub Saharan Africa and they are of particular importance because they are characterised typically as having low yield and limited storage. In Sierra Leone development of groundwater sources today is mostly from low yielding hand dug wells equipped with hand pumps.