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This paper provides a broad overview of issues on groundwater condition and management in the Kano region of northwestern Nigeria. The aim is to recommend new management strategies that can ensure sustainable groundwater resource management in the region. To achieve the aim of the study, various studies on groundwater conducted in the region were reviewed and key issues were identified. The review revealed that groundwater availability varied between the Basement Complex and Chad Formation areas of the region, with the latter having more of the resource than the former region as a result of the migration of groundwater from the Basement complex to the Chad Formation region. The review also revealed a steady annual decrease of groundwater level during the period 2010 to 2013 and the groundwater beneath the floodplains dropped from 9000 Million Cubic Meter (MCM) in 1964 to 5000 MCM in 1987 in the Chad Formation area of the region. The review further revealed that there is poor knowledge regarding the impact of historical and projected climate variability and change on groundwater availability in the region. This is as a result of the lack of sustained time series data on groundwater resource. Thus, there has been little or no integrated management between groundwater excess and deficiency on one hand, and groundwater pollution management on the other hand. Rainwater harvesting, among other approaches, is recommended for sustainable groundwater management in the region.
This study characterises the pattern of flood incidences in the year 2012 across Nigeria with the aim of establishing the implications on land degradation. The results revealed 52 major flood incidences within 88 days: 20 incidences occurred on separate days, 16 as double per day, and 12 as triple events while 4 occurred in a day. The spatial distributions are: North Central geopolitical zone recorded 31%, South South 21%, North West 17%, North East 15%, South East 12% and South West 4% respectively. Other characteristics are the duration of the flood: 38% of the flood incidents lasted for more than 14 days, 27% for 1 -3 days, while 27% for 4 -7 days respectively and 8% was recorded for 8 -14 days duration, while the frequency of occurrence revealed that July has 2 incidents, August (16), September (24) and October (10). The floods affected mostly states adjacent to the major rivers and in many instances aggravated land degradation through erosion, pollution and removal of vegetation, though the pattern and intensity differed across the various geopolitical and ecological zones of the country. Consequently, it affected food production and many farmers were left with nothing or little to harvest for food and to cater for their well being. This makes food insecurity unavoidable both in the short and long run. Therefore, there is the need for government at various levels and communities to be proactive in the management of floods in the country in order to avoid greater problems in the future through land use planning, education and adequate warning system.
In the main, the assessment of environmental impact of dams is not undertaken in feasibility surveys of dam-related projects in the Tropics, as it should. Consequently, post-implementation investigations (mostly by research students) continue to reveal undersirable effects. The lack of appropriate data on which to base predictions in proposed projects, or to assess environmental impacts in ongoing ones, is a major problem. It is argued that continuous monitoring of existing projects can help to fill this data gap. Such monitoring should cover the entire basin affected, taking into account environmental variables of the upstream, reservoir, and downstream systems. This paper considers the downstream system. Variables of importance include: soil erosion and sediment yield; channel morphometry; discharge and runoff pattern and volume; and changes in vegetation cover, water chemistry and water quality. Field measurements and observations, laboratory analyses, and statistical inferences are required to yield acceptable results. Such results are expected to enhance a better understanding (through impact assessment) and management of existing projects, on the one hand, and to aid wise predictions (at the feasibility stage) of environmental effects of new projects, on the other.
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