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.