Water Resources: Management and Strategies in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria has a population of about 160 million people and an area of land covering 200,000 square kilometres. Amongst the numerous natural resources in Nigeria; water resources is most plenteous and is developing at a fast pace. Because of the lack of sound early development policy and meaningful investments, the rational use of water resources poses a great problem and challenge to the nation. These have been seriously tackled by the River Basin Development Authorities which were set up to manage the resources. Total expenditure on various water projects by the federal ministry of water resources has run into billions of Naira since the establishment of the 11 river basic development. The state government ministries of water resources have also impacted on the management of water resources nationwide and in many cases with a financial and technical support from the federal ministry of water resources and donor agencies like the UNESCC, UNICEF, and others. Most recently, the private sector has come into water resources development especially the development and management of potable water through the private, public sector partnership PPP. This paper therefore examines the sources of surface and ground water resources in Nigeria; the goal and present organisation of water management in Nigeria Groundwater protection and vulnerability, water management under drought and flood conditions. Suggestions were made on ways of planning sustainable water supply systems for Nigeria

Key words: Water Resources, Management, Strategies, Climate Change