Artisanal gold panning impacts on morphology and water quality of Cavally river (Zouan-hounien, Côte d’Ivoire)

Since the crisis that happened in 2002, artisanal gold panning activity is practised on the minor and major bed of Cavally river in Zouan-hounien (Cote d\u0027ivoire). This generating activity of income to the populations is done without respecting the environmental and social measures. However the water of the river is used by this population for food, bodily, agricultural needs. This study aims at evaluating the impacts of artisanal gold panning on the morphology and the quality of water of the Cavally river. Thus, the treatement of satellite images by teledetection software ang geographics informations systems, the analyze and the treatement, with SEQ-Water tool, for samples taken are used. It comes out from this study that surfaces of the sections of the river evolved/moved from 5,68%, in 1986, to 16,31%, in 2011. Between 2011 and 2018, surfaces of the sections increased by 16,39% to 55,93%. This study raises too that water of the Cavally river is of average quality. It thus allowed to propose an action plan to fight against the impacts of the artisanal gold panning on the quality of water while being based on the classification carried out according to the uses.