WATER SUPPLY MANAGEMENT POLICY IN NIGERIA: CHALLENGES IN THE WETLAND AREA OF NIGER DELTA

Abstract

The Niger Delta wetland is currently facing serious challenges of sustainable water supply management. Despite the availability of water, the region has been struggling with acute potable water shortage due to ineffective water supply management culture. To combat water shortage various governments within the region have set up water corporations to manage this important resource. This paper examines the widening gap between water need and supply in the wetland despite continuous efforts made to develop the regions’ vast surface and groundwater resources. The study employed the review of literature on water supply management policy documents and other works so as to understand the challenges of water supply management in the wetland. The paper revealed that the challenges facing sustainable water supply management in the Niger delta wetland include lack of effective compliance to policies, fragmented responsibility, poor state of infrastructure, corruption, and low rate of costs recovery. In order to ameliorate these challenges, the researcher recommends the need to comply with water management policies that aim at economic efficiency, encourage stakeholder participation, and enforce existing laws and regulatory responsibilities.