List of dams and reservoirs in Nigeria

Last updated
List of dam and reservoirs in Nigeria
CountryNigeria
StatusOperational
Opening date1969
One of the most largest dam in Nigeria A large dam.jpg
One of the most largest dam in Nigeria
Dadin Kowa Reservoir,captured by the satellite Dadin Kowa Reservoir.jpg
Dadin Kowa Reservoir,captured by the satellite

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.

Contents

Kainji Dam in Niger State, Nigeria supplied water from the Kainji Lake ASC Leiden - Rietveld Collection - Nigeria 1970 - 1973 - 01 - 083 Kainji Dam. The water flows from four openings.jpg
Kainji Dam in Niger State, Nigeria supplied water from the Kainji Lake
The Kainji Lake National Park located at Niger and Kwara state Nigeria Kainji Lake National Park located at Niger and Kwara state Nigeri.jpg
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] River Kaduna.jpg
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 the year 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. [2]

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. [3]

Seventy-nine percent have domestic and industrial water supply components, [3] 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.

StateDamCapacity
millions of m3
Surface area
hectares
Primary usage
Osun State Ede-Erinle Reservoir ----Water supply
Oyo State Asejire Reservoir 2,369Water supply
Sokoto State Bakolori Dam 4508,000Irrigation
Kano State Challawa Gorge Dam 93010,117Water supply
Gombe State Dadin Kowa Dam 2,80029,000Water supply
Sokoto State Goronyo Dam 94220,000Irrigation
Oyo State Ikere Gorge Dam 6904,700Hydro-electric, water supply
Niger State Jebba Dam 3,60035,000Hydro-electric power
Katsina State Jibiya Dam 1424,000Water supply, irrigation
Bauchi State Kafin Zaki Dam 2,70022,000Planned - irrigation
Niger State Kainji Dam 15,000130,000Hydro-electric
Adamawa State Kiri Dam 61511,500Irrigation, plans for hydro-electric
Ogun State Oyan River Dam 2704,000Water supply, irrigation,hydro-electric
Niger State Shiroro Dam 31,200Hydro-electric power
Kano State Tiga Dam 1,87417,800Irrigation, water supply
Kebbi State Zauro polder project Irrigation
Katsina State Zobe Dam 1775,000Water supply

Purpose of Dams

Dams serve various purposes, such as flood control, hydroelectric power generation, irrigation for agriculture, navigation, and recreation. [4]

Benefit of Dams

Dams offer many benefits, which includes providing renewable energy sources and preventing floods in low-lying areas, they can also negatively impact ecosystems by disrupting the natural habitats of aquatic species.

References

  1. "Niger Dams Project | dams and reservoirs, Nigeria". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  2. "Nigeria ICRC PPP Platform". ppp.icrc.gov.ng. Retrieved 2024-07-07.
  3. 1 2 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.
  4. "List Of Dams In Nigeria And Their Locations".

Sources