Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria

Abstract The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands (HNWs) are a UNESCO-declared Ramsar Site due to its importance as a habitat for varieties of exotic flora and fauna of international importance. Climate change, coupled with a declining river flow caused by river regulation, due to the construction of the Tiga and...

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Main Authors: Usman A. Ibrahim, Salisu Dan’azumi, Ali Aldrees, Sani I. Abba, M. J. Chiroma, Hassan H. Bdliya
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-06-01
Series:Applied Water Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-025-02545-8
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author Usman A. Ibrahim
Salisu Dan’azumi
Ali Aldrees
Sani I. Abba
M. J. Chiroma
Hassan H. Bdliya
author_facet Usman A. Ibrahim
Salisu Dan’azumi
Ali Aldrees
Sani I. Abba
M. J. Chiroma
Hassan H. Bdliya
author_sort Usman A. Ibrahim
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands (HNWs) are a UNESCO-declared Ramsar Site due to its importance as a habitat for varieties of exotic flora and fauna of international importance. Climate change, coupled with a declining river flow caused by river regulation, due to the construction of the Tiga and Challawa Gorge Dams upstream, is known to have adverse effects on the environmental sustainability of the wetlands. This research aims to propose reservoir operation rules that could be adopted to restore the river flow into the HNWs. Hydro-meteorological data were collected, and preliminary tests were carried out on the data before analysis. Five downscaled Global Climate Model outputs of RCP 4.5 scenario were selected under three scenarios of increased precipitation-unchanged temperature, increased temperature-unchanged precipitation and increased precipitation-increased temperature. WEAP model was set up to allocate water under four reservoir operation rules. The model was evaluated, and very good performances were shown. Results from the simulation show that Alternative III yields the highest reliability of more than 97% for both the Tiga and Challawa Gorge dams in all three climate change scenarios. Thus, Alternative III which assigned lower priorities for reservoir filling than municipal, environmental and irrigation water demands from October to June and higher priorities for reservoir refilling from July to September so that it could attain as high a reservoir level as possible was selected as the best operation rule for the two reservoirs.
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spelling doaj-art-f5d758b8dbee49c39c2bc92656aee78e2025-08-20T04:03:06ZengSpringerOpenApplied Water Science2190-54872190-54952025-06-0115712210.1007/s13201-025-02545-8Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern NigeriaUsman A. Ibrahim0Salisu Dan’azumi1Ali Aldrees2Sani I. Abba3M. J. Chiroma4Hassan H. Bdliya5Department of Civil and Water Resources Engineering, University of MaiduguriDepartment of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz UniversityDepartment of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering in Al-Kharj, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz UniversityDepartment of Civil Engineering, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd UniversityHadejia-Jama’are-Komodugu-Yobe Basin Trust FundHadejia-Jama’are-Komodugu-Yobe Basin Trust FundAbstract The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands (HNWs) are a UNESCO-declared Ramsar Site due to its importance as a habitat for varieties of exotic flora and fauna of international importance. Climate change, coupled with a declining river flow caused by river regulation, due to the construction of the Tiga and Challawa Gorge Dams upstream, is known to have adverse effects on the environmental sustainability of the wetlands. This research aims to propose reservoir operation rules that could be adopted to restore the river flow into the HNWs. Hydro-meteorological data were collected, and preliminary tests were carried out on the data before analysis. Five downscaled Global Climate Model outputs of RCP 4.5 scenario were selected under three scenarios of increased precipitation-unchanged temperature, increased temperature-unchanged precipitation and increased precipitation-increased temperature. WEAP model was set up to allocate water under four reservoir operation rules. The model was evaluated, and very good performances were shown. Results from the simulation show that Alternative III yields the highest reliability of more than 97% for both the Tiga and Challawa Gorge dams in all three climate change scenarios. Thus, Alternative III which assigned lower priorities for reservoir filling than municipal, environmental and irrigation water demands from October to June and higher priorities for reservoir refilling from July to September so that it could attain as high a reservoir level as possible was selected as the best operation rule for the two reservoirs.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-025-02545-8Climate changeWetlandsTiga damChallawa Gorge damReservoir
spellingShingle Usman A. Ibrahim
Salisu Dan’azumi
Ali Aldrees
Sani I. Abba
M. J. Chiroma
Hassan H. Bdliya
Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria
Applied Water Science
Climate change
Wetlands
Tiga dam
Challawa Gorge dam
Reservoir
title Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria
title_full Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria
title_fullStr Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria
title_short Water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands, Northern Nigeria
title_sort water management strategies for climate change mitigation in the hadejia nguru wetlands northern nigeria
topic Climate change
Wetlands
Tiga dam
Challawa Gorge dam
Reservoir
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s13201-025-02545-8
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