Tiga Dam

Last updated

11°26′14″N8°24′9″E / 11.43722°N 8.40250°E / 11.43722; 8.40250

Contents

Catchment area of the Yobe River - Tiga dam to the west, south of Kano Yobe river catchment area.png
Catchment area of the Yobe River – Tiga dam to the west, south of Kano

The Tiga Dam is in Kano State in the Northwest of Nigeria, constructed in 1971–1974. It is a major reservoir on the Kano River, the main tributary of the Hadejia River. The dam was built during the administration of Governor Audu Bako in an attempt to improve food security through irrigation projects. [1]

Tiga Dam Jnsb EXPORT 170082733739269 20200415 150009285.jpg
Tiga Dam

Description

The dam was built during the administration of Governor Audu Bako in an attempt to improve food security through irrigation projects. [2] The dam covers an area of 178 square kilometres (69 sq mi) with maximum capacity of nearly 2,000,000,000 cubic metres (7.1×1010 cu ft). [3] Water from the dam supplies the Kano River Irrigation Project as well as Kano City. [4]

Downstream impact

Several studies have shown that the dam has delivered negative economic value when its effect on downstream communities was taken into account. [4] [5] On completion of the dam the river flow downstream at Gashua in Yobe State fell by about 100,000,000 cubic metres (3.5×109 cu ft) per year due to upstream irrigation and by more than 50,000,000 cubic metres (1.8×109 cu ft) due to evaporation from the reservoir. [6] A study published in 1999 concluded that farmers in the downstream floodplain had adapted their agriculture, helped by new technology, but the increased level of production might not be sustainable. [7]

The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands further downstream have considerable economic and ecological importance. They are home to about one million people living by wet-season rice farming, agriculture at other seasons, fishing and cattle grazing by Fulani people. The dam has damaged the cycle, reducing fish catches and harvests of other wetland products. [8]

In August 2009, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan of Yobe North, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, stated that the Tiga Dam had reduced water flow in the Kano River by about 50%. The senator was speaking in opposition to the proposed Kafin Zaki Dam on the Jama'are River, the other main tributary of the Yobe River. He said the Tiga and Challawa Dams had caused intense poverty, increased desert encroachment, migration and conflicts between arable farmers and herdsmen. He noted that the Yobe River no longer flows into Lake Chad. [9]

It is estimated that Lake Chad will dry up completely within 40 years. More than 30 million people derive their livelihood from the Lake Chad Basin through fishing, raising live stock and farming. A study group to examine the problem was established in November 2008, visiting the Tiga dam and other locations. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keepit Dam</span> Dam in North West Slopes, New South Wales

Keepit Dam is a major gated mass concrete gravity dam with an earth fill abutment and a central gated concrete overflow crest and six radial gate spillways across the Namoi River upstream of its junction with the Peel River in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation, hydro-power, irrigation, water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Keepit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gongola River</span>

The Gongola River is in northeastern Nigeria, the principal tributary of the Benue River. The upper course of the river as well as most of its tributaries are seasonal streams, but fill rapidly in August and September. The Gongola rises on the eastern slopes of the Jos Plateau and falls to the Gongola Basin, running northeasterly until Nafada. At one time, the Gongola continued from here in the northeast direction to Lake Chad. Today it turns south and then southeast until it joins the Hawal River, its main tributary. The Gongola then runs south to the Benue river, joining it opposite the town of Numan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jigawa State</span> State of Nigeria

Jigawa State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria, located in the northern region of the country. Created on August 27, 1991, under the General Ibrahim Babangida who announced the creation of nine additional states in the country bringing the total number of states then to thirty. The announcement was given a legal backing through the; State Creation and Transitional Provisions Decree No. 37 of 1991. Jigawa State was a part of Kano State and was located in the northeastern-most region of Kano State, and it forms part of Nigeria's national border with the Republic of the Niger. The state capital and largest city is Dutse. Jigawa state has 27 local governments

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadejia-Nguru wetlands</span>

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadejia River</span>

The Hadejia River is a river in Northern Nigeria and is a tributary of the Yobe River. Among the cities and towns that lie on or near its banks are Hadejia and Nguru. Damming of the river for the purposes of irrigation has led to a decrease in the amount of water in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, which the river forms along with Nguru Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tumut Pond Dam</span> Dam in Snowy Mountains, New South Wales

Tumut Pond Dam is a major gated concrete arch dam across the upper reaches of the Tumut River in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu River (Yangtze tributary)</span> River in Guizhou, China

The Wu River is the largest southern tributary of the Yangtze River. Nearly its entire length of 1,150 kilometres (710 mi) runs within the isolated, mountainous and ethnically diverse province of Guizhou. The river takes drainage from a 80,300-square-kilometre (31,000 sq mi) watershed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmad Lawan</span> Nigerian politician (born 1959)

Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan is a Nigerian politician and professor who served as the 14th president of the Nigerian Senate from 2019 to 2023. He represents the Yobe North Senatorial District in the Senate as a member of the All Progressives Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kafin Zaki Dam</span> Nigeria Dam

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jama'are River</span> River in Nigeria

The Jama'are River, also known as the Bunga River in its upper reaches, starts in the highlands near Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria and flows northeast through Bauchi State and Yobe State before joining the Hadejia River to form the Yobe River. There has recently been controversy over a plan to build the Kafin Zaki Dam on this river, with concerns over the effect on seasonal flooding and the water table.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Challawa Gorge Dam</span> Dam in northwest Nigeria

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bakolori Dam</span> Dam in Nigeria

The Bakolori Dam is in Sokoto State in northwest Nigeria. It was completed in 1978 and its reservoir filled by 1981. It is a major reservoir on the Sokoto River, a tributary of the Rima River, which in turn feeds the Niger River. Water from the dam supplies the Bakolori Irrigation Project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nura (river)</span> River in Kazakhstan

The Nura is a major watercourse of northeast-central Kazakhstan. It is 978 kilometres (608 mi) long and drains an area of 60,800 square kilometres (23,500 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audu Bako</span> Nigerian police officer, governor of Kano State (1924–1980)

Audu Bako (1924–1980) was a Nigerian police officer and the first Governor of Kano State during the military regime of General Yakubu Gowon after the state was formed from part of Northern Region.

The Chad Basin National Park is a national park in northeastern Nigeria, in the Chad Basin, with a total area of about 2,258 km2. The park is fragmented, with three sectors. The Chingurmi-Duguma sector is in Borno State, in a Sudanian Savanna ecological zone. The Bade-Nguru Wetlands and Bulatura sectors are in Yobe State in the Sahel ecological zone.

Kosasthalaiyar River, also known as Kortalaiyar, is one of the three rivers that flow in the Chennai metropolitan area.

Kano River Project is a modern integrated agricultural land use development in Northern Nigeria. River Kano also locally called Kogin Kano. The project is a large scale irrigation project developed under the authority of Hadejia-Juma’are River Basin Development Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chad Basin</span> Largest endorheic basin in Africa

The Chad Basin is the largest endorheic basin in Africa, centered approximately on Lake Chad. It has no outlet to the sea and contains large areas of semi-arid desert and savanna. The drainage basin is approximately coterminous with the sedimentary basin of the same name, but extends further to the northeast and east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hadejia Jama'are River Basin Development Authority</span>

The Hadejia-Jama'are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA) is a governmental organization in Nigeria responsible for the management, development, and utilization of water resources within the Hadejia-Jama'are River Basin. The authority was established to oversee various projects and initiatives aimed at improving agricultural production, water supply, and overall socio-economic development in the region.

References

  1. "Tiga Dam, Kano". Hotels.ng Places. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
  2. Ujudud Shariff (17 March 2009). "Food Security and Kano Irrigation Project". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-05-16.
  3. Barau, Aliyu Salisu (2007) The Great Attractions of Kano. Research and Documentation Directorate Government House Kano
  4. 1 2 Edward B Barbier (November 7, 2002). "Upstream Dams and Downstream Water Allocation – The Case of the Hadejia'Jama'are Floodplain, Northern Nigeria" (PDF). Department of Economics and Finance, University of Wyoming. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  5. David E. Ervin; James R. Kahn; Marie Leigh Livingston (2003). Does environmental policy work?: the theory and practice of outcomes assessment. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 70ff. ISBN   978-1-84064-170-7.
  6. Kole Ahmed Shettima. "Dam Politics in Northern Nigeria: The Case of the Kafin Zaki Dam". York University, Canada. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  7. David H. L. Thomas; William M. Adams (1998). "Adapting to Dams: Agrarian Change Downstream of the Tiga Dam, Northern Nigeria". World Development. Elsevier Science Ltd. 27 (6): 919–935. doi:10.1016/S0305-750X(99)00041-8.
  8. "Irrigation potential in Africa: A basin approach". United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. 1997. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  9. Sufuyan Ojeifo (3 August 2009). "A Senator's Worries Over Kafin-Zaki Dam". This Day. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
  10. Abubakar Yakubu (5 November 2008). "Experts, Stakeholders Brain Storm Over Lake Chad". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2009-10-01.