Microsoft Word - jeas_0913_951.doc

ABSTRACT The Sumampa stream is located in the Municipal capital of Mampong-Ashanti in the forest-savannah agroecological zone of the Ashanti Region in Ghana. The study investigated the changes in the flashiness of the Sumampa stream as a result of increasing human activities in the catchment by assessing the stream's pathlength and RichardsBaker's new flashiness Index (R-B Index), annual and decadal variation in the flashiness Index using daily flow data from 1985 to 2009. The daily flow data was generated from the stream's daily stage data using the stream's rating curve developed by the Department of Hydrology, Kumasi, Ghana. The landuse change scenarios and the rainfall trend coupled with 43.8% of catchment land on 5-10 o slope represent a potentially high erosion risk and an important factor to influence flashiness in a fast expanding urban catchment