By Abdallah el-Kurebe
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State has urged stakeholders to work together to tackle the problem of water shortage at Goronyo dam, whose level has shrunk by almost 90 percent.
The dam serves as the primary source of water for close to four million people in Sokoto and Kebbi states in the North West of the country.
It is used for domestic use and irrigation purposes in the two affected states.
Speaking when he led officials on an inspection visit to the dam, Tambuwal said the depletion of the dam’s water level was alarming.
“The reservoir of Goronyo Dam was constructed to hold one billion cubic meter of water but as we’ve seen today, the water in it is just about 100 million cubic meters.
“This has resulted in inadequate supply of water to our water board and in effect, we had to resort to rationing water to the people.
“Our farmers are also suffering because output from this year’s dry season farming will invariably be affected.
“We are urging all stakeholders, especially the Federal Government, to take the lead in rescuing this important dam considering the number of people that rely on its water for domestic use and income purposes,” he added.
Conducting the Governor round the dam site, Managing Director of Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority, Engineer Buhari Bature, said the depletion was the worst seen in the dam in over 25 years.
He attributed the problem to shortage of rainfall in 2017, climate change and lack of desilting of the dam.
He said the problem has affected water supply to water board and irrigation farming in Sokoto and Kebbi states.
