During an implementation workshop organized by the National Water Resources Institute (NWRI) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Jabi Lake, located in Abuja, was selected as the first eco-hydrology demonstration site in Nigeria.
The selection was done yesterday, Tuesday, September 27.
According to the director-general of NWRI, Prof. Emmanuel Adanu, simple solutions will be used to address challenges in the water resources subsector.
What this means
Through the approval, UNESCO will work with and teach local communities to be more resilient, healthy, and sustainable when it comes to tackling water challenges arising from the decline in water quality and biodiversity.
Furthermore, all Nigerian water resources agencies will work closely with UNESCO to clean up Jabi Lake and make it useful for environmental preservation and water management.
Local context
While providing some background to the project, Prof. Adanu said, “Anywhere you have stagnant water, you have a way of approaching it, because no water is useless until it is impure; so, if you make it pure, it becomes useful at any environment you see it, so that’s what we want to do, and eco-hydrology is one of the methods.”
“So, we intend to do that intentionally in stagnant places, so it is just an integrated way of using nature to purify water, instead of toxic materials used in treating water,” he concluded.
Mr. John Ochigbo, the director, of River Basin Operations and Inspectorate, who represented the minister of water resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, said as Nigeria’s population expands, the need for water is increasing, with much environmental pollution threatening the country’s water resources.
Ochigbo said discharges from industries and homes into Jabi Lake were abusive, hence the need to clean it up and make it more beneficial.
“We are encouraging all relevant water agencies in Nigeria and across West Africa to make use of this demonstration site to be able to build their capacity to handle water resources management issues.
“The lake was initially to serve the purpose of water supply to the FCT, Abuja, before the Usuma Dam came on board; it is an important water resource and needs to be protected,” Ochigbo says.
Bottom line
Eco-hydrology is a scientific approach to water management and conservation.
Mr. Dimitri Sanga of UNESCO’s Dakar Regional Office said water was at the core of sustainable development, adding that it is critical for socio-economic development, healthy ecosystems, and for human survival.
Sanga said the partnership would contribute to the achievement of human sustainable development goals and build the resilience of ecosystems in member states.
According to him, the incidence of COVID-19 has shown how access to clean and safe water and sanitation is critical and indispensable to avoiding the spread of the virus.
“Given the importance of water, UNESCO works to build the scientific knowledge base to help its member states manage their water resources in a sustainable manner.
“We work through the Intergovernmental Hydrology Programme (UNESCO-IHP), through leading the UN-wide World Water Development around the world,” Sanga said.
What you should know
- The Eco hydrology programme under UNESCO aims to advance the integration of social, ecological, and hydrological research, and to generate outcomes that enable the development of effective policies and practices for integrated water resources management.
- The UNESCO eco hydrology project is already active in countries like Kenya and Tanzania.
