By Kayode Adebiyi
The Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC) has formed a strategic partnership with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) to ensure NGSA’s technical outputs directly support NIWRMC’s regulatory functions.
In a statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations, Fatima Yusuf, on Wednesday in Abuja, the Executive Director of NIWRMC, Dr Abdulmumini Aminu-Zaria, disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to the Director-General of NGSA.
Aminu-Zaria said during the visit that the partnership aims to combine NGSA’s assessment of geogenic contaminants with NIWRMC’s monitoring to create a comprehensive water quality surveillance system.
“We need to establish data sharing protocols and interoperable databases to link hydrological, geological, and regulatory information and to provide geotechnical and hydrological assessments to guide NIWRMC’s regulatory decisions on water infrastructure.”
Aminu-Zaria also said NIWRMC wants to collaboratively monitor and map geological hazards to inform and strengthen its regulatory plans for flood and drought management.
“We need to launch joint pilot projects in selected catchments to conduct groundwater assessment and urban water sustainability studies,” he said.
The Executive Director called for the two organisations to conduct a joint training and establish a technical working group to build capacity in integrated water geology management.
He also solicited a formalisation of the partnership through a memorandum of understanding and a joint technical committee.
The Director-General of NGSA, Prof Olusegun Ige, assured Aminu-Zaria that the agency has the capacity to support NIWRMC to deliver on its mandate. (NAN)
Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz
