FG approves Water Master Plan as demand increases

Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, Minister of Water Resources said: “We got approval for the National Water Resources Master Plan 2013, which we developed in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).”
Ochekpe said the goal of the plan, which will run through 2030, was “to ensure that the water resources in Nigeria are properly managed.”
JICA reviewed the previous draft of the master plan in 2011 and suggested major changes aimed at addressing increases in population and water demand, globalisation, climate change and government funding policies.
Ochekpe said the three-phase plan provided guidelines on how to ensure adequate supply and utilisation of water in the country “in acceptable quality and standard, and … national coverage.”
She said the plan gave priority to using water resources to mitigate the effects of climate change and promoting irrigated agriculture to enhance Nigeria’s food security.
Ochekpe called for commercialisation of water supply services in order to increase revenue to maintain water infrastructure.
 The World Bank has previously been critical of the state of the country’s infrastructure, saying it was “rarely operated to capacity due to broken down equipment, or lack of power or fuel for pumping.”
The new plan also pushed for public-private partnerships as a means of bridging the deficit in the national water sector budget.
Nigeria will need some $1.3 billion USD to meet the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target on water supply by next year.
Currently, the country invested around $500 million USD per year in the water sector, according to government statistics.
An estimated 100 million people, or 61 percent of the population, now has access to improved water sources, less than the 75 percent required in the MDGs.
Although Nigeria hoped to raise water sector funding to 1.5 percent of the national budget, Ochekpe said the country needed financial backing from donors and development partners to make up the current shortfall.
 China, European Union, World Bank, African Development Bank, JICA, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and WaterAid are among the partners that have worked in the water sector in Nigeria. (Source: OOSKANews)
The National Water Resources Master Plan will be implemented in three phases, with phase one running from 2014-2020 and phases two and three expected to be implemented in 2012-2025 and 2026-2030.