Tiga Dam
Coordinates: 11°26′14″N 8°24′9″E / 11.43722°N 8.40250°E
The Tiga Dam is in Kano State in the Northwest of Nigeria, constructed in 1971-1974. It is a major reservoir on the Kano River, the main tributary of the Hadejia River.
The dam was built during the administration of Governor Audu Bako in an attempt to improve food security through irrigation projects. The dam covers an area of 178 square kilometres (69 sq mi) with maximum capacity of nearly 2,000,000 cubic metres (71,000,000 cu ft). Water from the dam supplies the Kano River Irrigation Project as well as Kano City.
Several studies have shown that the dam has delivered negative economic value when its effect on downstream communities was taken into account. On completion of the dam the river flow downstream at Gashua in Yobe State fell by about 100,000,000 cubic metres (3.5×109 cu ft) per year due to upstream irrigation and by more than 50,000,000 cubic metres (1.8×109 cu ft) due to evaporation from the reservoir. A study published in 1999 concluded that farmers in the downstream floodplain had adapted their agriculture, helped by new technology, but the increased level of production might not be sustainable.
The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands further downstream have considerable economic and ecological importance. They are home to about one million people living by wet-season rice farming, agriculture at other seasons, fishing and cattle grazing by Fulani people. The dam has damaged the cycle, reducing fish catches and harvests of other wetland products.
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