2.1 Study area
Warwade dam is situated in Northern Nigeria with coordinates 11° 45’ 0ʺ
North, 9° 13’ 0ʺ East. Warwade village where the dam is located is about
15 km south of Dutse, the capital of Jigawa State (Rilwanu, 2018).
Construction of the dam began in 1970 by the administration of Military
Governor of old Kano State (comprised of present day Kano and Jigawa
States) Police Commissioner Audu Bako and was completed in 1976 by the
Military Governor of the old Kano State Colonel Sani Bello. .
Information obtained from the Jigawa State Ministry of Environment on
the dam showed that it has a crest height 10 metres, crest length 2780
metres, reservoir of 429.5 metres, reservoir capacity
12.3m3 and its spill way type is box culvert. The dam
is fed with water by three major tributaries coming from Dutse and
Tsangaya in Jigawa State and Albasu in Kano State. The relief of the
area is flat with little undulation (Ahmed, 2003). The geology of the
area is sedimentary formation of the Chad basin (Olofin, 1973). The soil
of the area is generally sandy. In terms of groundwater the area is
characterized by low surface water and high groundwater. The water table
of the area is from 25m to 50m (Abdulhamid, 2014).
The major purpose for the construction of the dam was to provide water
for irrigation to the communities living around it. The dam serves the
surrounding communities of Warwade, Sabon Garin Alhaji, Sayasaya,
Jidawa, Zowon Hawa and Gatari. Other socioeconomic activities observed
by Dogara et al. (2019) includes fishing, provision of drinking
water for domestic animals belonging to members of the surrounding
communities (especially goats and cattle) and washing of wares and
clothes. It also serves as source of drinking water to herds of camels,
cattle and goats belonging to pastoralists from different parts of the
state and beyond.