Nigeria Signs New Plan For Effective Water Resource Management

The signing of the Strategic Catchment Management Plan (SCMP) by the Nigerian government is a significant step towards ensuring the long-term management and utilisation of the country’s water resources.

The Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, sponsored by the World Bank, is heavily reliant on the Strategic Catchment Management Plan.

Speaking at the signing ceremony on Monday, Hon. Balarabe Lawal, Minister of Environment, said it was an honour and privilege to sign the agreement for a critical initiative that will affect citizens’ lives and environmental health.

He stated, “Today marks a significant milestone in our collective efforts to protect the environment and ensure sustainable development. The Signing Ceremony for ACReSAL’s Strategic Catchment Management Plan (SCMP) is a significant step towards responsible natural resource management.”

He defined catchments as areas where water is collected and drained into natural or man-made channels. They are the foundation of our ecosystems, supporting livelihoods, agriculture, and biodiversity.

He went on to say, “As we all know, catchments are critical ecosystems that support livelihoods, provide high-quality water, and safeguard biodiversity. However, they face numerous challenges, including soil erosion, insufficient waste management, and climate change. The SCMP aims to address these issues through management practices that are efficient, effective, and sustainable.

“The Integrated Catchment Management Plan lays out a long-term strategy for the sustainable development and use of water and other resources. It ensures that land, water, and related resources are developed and managed in a coordinated manner while preserving the viability of critical ecosystems.”

He stated: “The goal of this CMP is to provide several agreed-upon investments in infrastructure as well as other interventions and actions to help resolve conflict, conserve and protect the catchment and its natural resources, and ensure equitable access to and use of water resources.”

He said, “The Ministry of Environment, under my leadership, has promised Nigerians improvements in environmental sustainability interventions and initiatives. Indeed, what we are witnessing today demonstrates President Tinubu’s administration’s commitment to nature restoration and ecosystem protection.

“By implementing the SCMP, the ministries of Environment, Agriculture, and Water Resources will not only ensure long-term agro-climatic and land management but also improve the living conditions of northern Nigerian communities. This catchment plan will help to reduce poverty, promote sustainable agriculture, and safeguard the environment. Providing livelihoods for future generations.

Previously, the consultant in charge of the project and the Managing Director of Mecon Geology and Engineering Services Ltd, Chuka Offodile, explained that the strategic catchment management plan study of the northern parts of Nigeria begins first with the scientific delineation of the entire northern Nigeria into 20 mega-catchments, then the scientific assemblage and analysis of data in that framework as a planning tool with its component natural and environmental resources.

He went on to say, “Water is central to environmental issues!” In many areas of northern Nigeria, there is either too little available, resulting in desertification and deforestation with badland topography, or too much water, resulting in flooding, gullying, soil leaching/erosion, and possibly water pollution due to contaminants in the air, on the surface, or groundwater resources, resulting in minimal to no available water resources for livelihoods, skewed biodiversity, and other socio-economic land uses, leading to lower agricultural production. There could be little surface water but plenty of groundwater, or vice versa, with all of the interacting components within each catchment’s communities!!!”

He stated: “In other words, we would identify and study the most significant water resource or resources within each catchment, as well as the challenges/environmental problems associated with anthropogenic (socioeconomic activ es ities) and natural phenomena, evaluating the geospatial relationship or interplay of all factors within each catchment.