Development of a Pollutant Tracking Model for the Mitigation of Mercury-Induced Contamination on Surface and Ground Water Resources

The Okame river in Tiira, Busia district was an important source of water for different uses to the people living around it. However, because of the gold mining activities, the current status of the river is very critical from environmental, and commercial usage point of view. Henceforth, this research work focused on assessing the current situation using different scenarios such as climate change. Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP), a numerical simulation tool, was used to model river water quality using scenarios viz. business as usual (BAU) and scenario with mitigation measures. Comparison of simulates water quality parameters for current and BAU status indicate that the water quality is poor and not suitable for many aquatic lives and human consumption.