Water Resources Minister, Suleiman Adamu, said the Federal Government had constructed 260 dams that impounded 34 billion cubic meters of water across the country.
Addressing participants at the 29th regular meeting of the National Council on Water Resources (NCWR) on Thursday in Sokoto, Adamu said the figure represented the total number of large and medium dams constructed by Federal Government.
The minister said the dams’ construction was part of government efforts toward harnessing surface and ground water for drinking, Irrigation and power generation..
According to him, Nigeria has about 333 billion cubic meters of surface water and about 156 billion cubic meters of groundwater, which could be harnessed to meet the current nation’s water supply demand.
“My Ministry is promoting Integrated Water Resources Management principles for sustainable management of the available water resource in the country,’’ he said.
Adamu added that in order to sustain the gains in water supply, there was the need for effective collaboration amongst stakeholders in the sector.
“Doing so, will holistically harness the rich potential and maximise the benefits of capital investment in the completed dams, water supply and irrigation infrastructure,’’ he said.
He further said that the ministry was undertaking some projects and programmes to improve urban, small town and rural water supply.
The minister however said already, the ministry had constructed 6,761 water supply schemes in the urban, semi urban and rural areas to meet the needs of about 32 million Nigerians.
The minister appreciated Gov. Aminu Tambuwal, the Sultan of Sokoto and the people of the state for accepting to host the council meeting in the state.
He enjoined the participants to use the opportunity by contributing towards strengthening the national water policy.
In his address, Tambuwal, urged the council to diligently discuss the memos submitted by stakeholders for consideration .
He said the provision of potable water was a shared responsibility among to he three tiers of governments and commended the Federal Government for holding the council meeting in Sokoto.
Tambuwal, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government , Alhaji Mainasara Ahmed, urged the the Federal Government to reconsider the optimum utilisation of Shagari, Goronyo, Lugu and Bakalori dams.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN( reports that the 29th regular meeting of the NCWR was tagged: “Actualising Sustainable Development Goal-6: Prospects and Challenges.” (NAN)
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