The Dam supplying water to Kainji Hydro-power Plant in Niger State will no more perform optimally until an alternative is constructed to complement it, the Federal Government said.
Director of Dam and Reservoir Operations in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Adanu, made this known to National Mirror in an exclusive interview yesterday in Abuja.
He said: "Anytime they say there is low water in Kainji, the reason is that Kainji is not working at full capacity; that is one. Secondly, when Kainji was constructed, there was slight over-design because at that time, there were a lot of water resources on the Niger. But over the period, all the up-stream users of Niger have maximized the use of the water.
"Nigeria is the last recipients of the water from the Niger. So, other countries upstream of us are using this water aggressively. The amount that is left for us now is less than the amount that we projected when we were constructing Kainji.
"So, each time dry season comes, the amount of water left is smaller. When there is aggressive irrigation in Timbuktu, especially in Mali, a lot of water is used. Though we have Water Basin Authority that is supposed to regulate this, the amount of water available is no more as much as the one available when the dam was being constructed."
National Mirror