List of dams and reservoirs in Nigeria

Dams and reservoirs in Nigeria are used for irrigation, water supply, hydro - electric power generation or a combination of these. They are of particular importance in the northern part of the country, where there is low rainfall.

Kainji Dam in Niger State, Nigeria supplied water from the Kainji Lake
The Kainji Lake National Park located at Niger and Kwara state Nigeria
View of River Kaduna (from the bridge to the Makarfi Millenium City) [Kaduna State]

The Niger Dams Project,[1] is a series of three dams and reservoirs built in the second half of the 20th century in Kwara, Niger, and Kebbi states, northwestern Nigeria, on the Niger and Kaduna rivers. The first of the dams was built at Kainji in 1969. Its reservoir, Kainji Lake, supports irrigation and fishing projects in the states in which it lies. On its western shore, Lake Kainji National Park, including the Borgu and Zugurma game reserves, has promoted the tourism industry. The dam and hydroelectric power plant at Jebba, 103 kilometres (64 mi) from the Kainji Dam, were completed in 1984, and the dam at Shiroro Gorge on the Kaduna River, west of Bida in Niger state, began operations in 1990.

The study revealed that there are 323 large, medium and small dams, which have been constructed and are being operational in Nigeria. They have a total storage capacity of more than 30×109 m3. Eighty-five percent of the larger dams are located in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of the country.[2]

Seventy-nine percent have domestic and industrial water supply components,[2] while 33% have irrigation as a major use to which the stored water is put; 29% are for fisheries, 16% for recreation and 4% are also for hydro-electric power generation (HEP). The three largest hydropower dams are under operation and control the flow of the Niger and Kaduna rivers. Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro dams are with total active capacity of 18.6 billion cubic metres (660 billion cubic feet) and total power capacity of 1920 MW. Dams in Nigeria can be classified into various categories, such as structure, age, purpose, etc. The common dams are small dams to be followed by medium dams with very few large dams. This can be attributed to their cost, demand and availability of land. The order of location of dams in Nigeria based on the district is north west, north east, north central, south west, south east and south. Some of these dams have failed (operational, functional and structural) in the past years due to lack of proper maintenance. It was concluded that citing of dams in Nigeria is based on many factors, such as land availability, purpose, water need, ecological factors and government policy.

The table below shows some of the large dams in the country.

State Dam Capacity
millions of m3 		Surface area
hectares 		Primary usage
Osun State Ede-Erinle Reservoir ---- Water supply
Oyo State Asejire Reservoir 2,369 Water supply
Sokoto State Bakolori Dam 450 8,000 Irrigation
Kano State Challawa Gorge Dam 930 10,117 Water supply
Gombe State Dadin Kowa Dam 2,800 29,000 Water supply
Sokoto State Goronyo Dam 942 20,000 Irrigation
Oyo State Ikere Gorge Dam 690 4,700 Hydro-electric, water supply
Niger State Jebba Dam 3,600 35,000 Hydro-electric power
Katsina State Jibiya Dam 142 4,000 Water supply, irrigation
Bauchi State Kafin Zaki Dam 2,700 22,000 Planned - irrigation
Niger State Kainji Dam 15,000 130,000 Hydro-electric
Adamawa State Kiri Dam 615 11,500 Irrigation, plans for hydro-electric
Ogun State Oyan River Dam 270 4,000 Water supply, irrigation,hydro-electric
Niger State Shiroro Dam 31,200 Hydro-electric power
Kano State Tiga Dam 1,874 17,800 Irrigation, water supply
Kebbi State Zauro polder project Irrigation
Katsina State Zobe Dam 177 5,000 Water supply

References

  1. ^ "Niger Dams Project | dams and reservoirs, Nigeria". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  2. ^ a b Oke, Isaiah Adesola; Ismail, Abubakar (2013). "Dams and water supply systems in Nigeria". In Khlifi, Slaheddine (ed.). Dams: Structure, Performance and Safety Management. New York: Nova Science Publishers. pp. 279–292. ISBN 978-1-62417-717-0. EBSCOhost 582625.

Sources

  • E.O. Ita; E.K. Sado; J.K. Balogun; A. Pandogari; B. Ibitoye (1985). "A PRELIMINARY CHECKLIST OF INLAND WATER BODIES IN NIGERIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO LAKES AND RESERVOIRS". Kainji Lake Research Institute. Retrieved 2010-05-22.
  • Enplan Group (September 2004). "Review of The Public Sector Irrigation in Nigeria" (PDF). Federal Ministry of Water Resources / UN Food & Agricultural Organization. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2010-05-21.
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