Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply in Lagos, Nigeria
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University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Master of Environmental Studies Capstone Department of Earth and Environmental Projects Science 5-18-2014 Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply in Lagos, Nigeria Judith Afooma Jideonwo University of Pennsylvania Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones Part of the Water Resource Management Commons Jideonwo, Judith Afooma, "Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply in Lagos, Nigeria" (2014). Master of Environmental Studies Capstone Projects. 58. https://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones/58 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones/58 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply in Lagos, Nigeria Abstract Lagos, the fastest growing city in Africa is currently facing a water management crisis. Due to poor planning, lack of adequate infrastructure, insufficient funds, and a poor vgo ernance and regulatory framework, there is a vast demand gap of 330 MGD. As such, only 10% of the population in Lagos is being served by the public water utility, Lagos Water Corporation. The rest of the population gain access to water either from private boreholes or from informal private sector participants such as water vendors. This situation is further worsened by certain factors such as rapid population growth, corruption, climate change, unreliable electricity, inadequate enforcement, and water leakages and theft that cause 60% unaccounted-for-water losses. As a result, citizens experience water shortages, water pollution, inadequate sanitation and wastewater treatment, and water injustice and inequality. There have been several governmental and external efforts to resolve the crisis, however they have all been fruitless due to poor implementation, inefficient enforcement, inadequate financing and lacking water governance. The Lagos Water Supply Master Plan aims to cover the demand gap by 2020 and improve water supply through extensive infrastructure development, however this plan is non-comprehensive and one- dimensional. Lagos needs a water supply plan that includes plans and strategies to address all the gaps and challenges that the Lagos water supply system faces. It is my goal to create a plan that would incorporate demand-side management, reduce waste and unaccounted water losses, ensure improved service delivery, restructure regulatory and governance frameworks, enhance reinvestment, and increase access to potable water. This professional report will delve into the water supply crisis facing Lagos State. I will explore the geographical and political conditions in the city; explain the causes and illustrate the factors that exacerbate the water supply issues; define the barriers ot resolution; and explore the efforts made by the state to resolve the water supply crisis. I will assess the effectiveness of these efforts and by highlighting the gaps and challenges faced, I aim to illustrate the importance of effective planning and management to ensure a sustainable water supply system. I hope to provide planning and management strategies that could rectify the severe water supply issues that Lagos is facing and if implemented would ensure a sustainable water supply system in Lagos. Disciplines Environmental Sciences | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Water Resource Management This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: https://repository.upenn.edu/mes_capstones/58 ENSURING SUSTAINABLE WATER SUPPLY IN LAGOS, NIGERIA Judith Afooma Jideonwo May 18, 2014 Primary Reader: Tom Daniels Secondary Reader: Stan Laskowski Dedication Dedicated to the 783 million people who still lack access to clean and safe drinking water. ii Acknowledgements I want to take the time to thank the following individuals for their support during the process of writing this capstone: I am grateful to Mrs. Aderonke Odeneye from Lagos State Safety Commission; Dr. Bola Balogun from Lagos Water Corporation; Mr. Adefemi Afolabi from Lagos State Waste Management Office; and Engineer Shabi Adebola, Mr. Adebodun Sewanu and Dr. Sanuth Hassan from the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, for giving me the opportunity to interview them and providing me with valuable information for my capstone. I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Thomas Daniels and Professor Stan Laskowski, my advisors for my capstone. I thank you for helping me develop a personal passion for sustainable water planning and management through your classes. I have really enjoyed working with you over the past year. Thank you for reading my lengthy drafts and for your unwavering support of my capstone. Your patience, motivation and knowledge provided guidance that helped me through the research and writing of this capstone. I could not have imagined having better advisors for my capstone. I thank my friends who have encouraged me from the beginning of this process. Your daily encouragement and sense of excitement in all my accomplishments kept me going. Thank you to my family for always being my biggest cheerleaders. My academics and personal pursuits over the past years would never have been possible without your guidance and trust. Thank you for shaping me into the person I have become today. Finally, I thank God for granting me this amazing opportunity to attend the University of Pennsylvania. I thank God for the wisdom and perseverance that he has been bestowed upon me during this capstone. Nothing is made possible without You and I thank You for giving me the mental strength to remain dedicated through out the last two years. iii Abstract Lagos, the fastest growing city in Africa is currently facing a water management crisis. Due to poor planning, lack of adequate infrastructure, insufficient funds, and a poor governance and regulatory framework, there is a vast demand gap of 330 MGD. As such, only 10% of the population in Lagos is being served by the public water utility, Lagos Water Corporation. The rest of the population gain access to water either from private boreholes or from informal private sector participants such as water vendors. This situation is further worsened by certain factors such as rapid population growth, corruption, climate change, unreliable electricity, inadequate enforcement, and water leakages and theft that cause 60% unaccounted-for-water losses. As a result, citizens experience water shortages, water pollution, inadequate sanitation and wastewater treatment, and water injustice and inequality. There have been several governmental and external efforts to resolve the crisis, however they have all been fruitless due to poor implementation, inefficient enforcement, inadequate financing and lacking water governance. The Lagos Water Supply Master Plan aims to cover the demand gap by 2020 and improve water supply through extensive infrastructure development, however this plan is non-comprehensive and one-dimensional. Lagos needs a water supply plan that includes plans and strategies to address all the gaps and challenges that the Lagos water supply system faces. It is my goal to create a plan that would incorporate demand-side management, reduce waste and unaccounted water losses, ensure improved service delivery, restructure regulatory and governance frameworks, enhance reinvestment, and increase access to potable water. This professional report will delve into the water supply crisis facing Lagos State. I will explore the geographical and political conditions in the city; explain the causes and illustrate the factors that exacerbate the water supply issues; define the barriers to resolution; and explore the efforts made by the state to resolve the water supply crisis. I will assess the effectiveness of these efforts and by highlighting the gaps and challenges faced, I aim to illustrate the importance of effective planning and management to ensure a sustainable water supply system. I hope to provide planning and management strategies that could rectify the severe water supply issues that Lagos is facing and if implemented would ensure a sustainable water supply system in Lagos. iv Table of Contents Dedication……………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………….iii Abstract………………………………………………………………………………iv Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1 History of Water Supply in Lagos…………………………………………….. 7 Governance & Regulatory Framework………………………………………12 Lagos Water Agencies for Water Supply and Quality…………………. 12 Regulatory……………………………………………………………..12 Monitoring……………………………………………………………..13 Water Supply & Quality……………………………………………..14 Environmental Compliance………………………………………....15 Wastewater Management…………………………………………...16 Other Agencies………………………………………………………..17 Lagos State Water Regulations…………………………………………….18 The Present & Future Water Supply Issues………………………………..21 Elements of the Water Supply Crisis………………………………………...27 Unreliable Water Supply…………………………………………………….27 Inadequate Wastewater Treatment & Sewerage System………………30 Water Pollution……………………………………………………………….34 Water Injustice & Inequity………………………………………………….37 Challenges……………………………………………………………………..39 Poor Water Infrastructure and Utility Performance……………39 Poor Planning…………………………………………………………42 Bad Governance & Lack of Political Will…………………………44 Unreliable Electricity………………………………………………...45 Lack of Funds………………………………………………………….46 Research Methodology…………………………………………..……………….47 Research Question……………………………………………………………48 Sub-Questions…………………………………………………………48 v Materials & Methods…………………………………………………………48 Analysis & Results