Effects of river regulation on aquatic macrophyte growth and floods in the Hadejia‐Nguru Wetlands and flow in the Yobe River,northern Nigeria; implications for future water management

The Hadejia River is a tributary of the Yobe River in semi‐arid northern Nigeria and is regulated by two major dams. The other main tributary is uncontrolled. Comparison of the discharge data for the controlled and uncontrolled rivers shows an average decrease of 33% in annual flow in the upstream part of the Hadejia River. The total annual flow and the peak flow in the Hadejia River further downstream, just above the Hadejia‐Nguru Wetlands (HNW), however, did not show a significant reduction in discharge. This is related to a relatively small river flow reduction at lower flows in the upstream part of the Hadejia River and the fact that the formal large upstream water users are not (yet) working at full capacity. The major impact of the dams on the downstream part of the river is the change in regime from ephemeral to perennial. The introduced dry season flows created favourable circumstances for the development of aquatic macrophyte blockages in the HNW. Owing to these blockages, the Hadejia River stopped contributing to the flow in the Yobe River for much of the year. Furthermore, after the completion of the dams, the timing of the floods in the HNW became less predictable. Suggestions for improvement of water management are made. These comprise engineering structures, including a flow diversion structure to regulate flows in the HNW, implementation of environmentally acceptable river flow strategies and water allocation management. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.