Ogwashi-Uku Dam to be used next year, 10 years after abandonment — FG

Managing Director of Benin-Owena River Basin Development Authority, a Federal government agency, Mr. Salihu Ahmed, has said the abandoned N3 billion Water Reservoir Dam in Aboh/Ogwashi Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area, Delta State, will be put to use next year.

He said the move was to address the acute water supply issues affecting Ogwashi Uku and 60 neighboring communities in the area.

Ahmed, an engineer, disclosed this in Ogwashi Uku when Federal Government Technical experts on dam projects, led by the Deputy Director of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mrs. Abiola Oluwatosin, conducted an on-the-spot assessment of the dam, which was constructed over 10 years ago but abandoned.

He said his office is currently working seriously with the Delta State government, the host state, “to carry out some maintenance on the dam, which has a 15-metre-high, 280-metre-long earth fill,” stating, “We have plans for the next financial year to boost water supply to the communities.”

He said the agency was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the dam, while it is the responsibility of the host state to handle the treatment of the dam.

“We are delighted to have the technical team here, on the directive of the Presidency, to check the structural integrity, operation, and maintenance of the Ogwashi-Uku Dam.

“The dam, as it stands, is complete. A dam is considered complete when water is impounded. The use to which the water is put is a different phase,” he stressed.

Speaking briefly, the lead of the technical experts, Abiola Oluwatosin, said the Presidency had constituted technical experts to evaluate dams across parts of the country with the “mandate to critically evaluate the structural integrity of dams in the six geopolitical zones and also to evaluate the environmental and social impact of the dams on the local communities and extended environment.”

Oluwatosin said the team also has the mandate to evaluate about eight dams in the southern part of the country, but for the Ogwashi Uku Dam, “We have taken note of the height and length of the dam; we have seen the spillway. Many things will be taken into consideration,” adding that the volume of water in the Ogwashi Uku Dam has greatly reduced due to siltation.