Issues
The wetlands have suffered from increasingly severe droughts in recent years. Since the 1980s, the use of small gasoline-powered irrigation pumps has increased the land that can be used for farming, causing conflicts with the cattle herders and disputes over land ownership.
Dams have threatened the viability of the wetlands, particularly the Tiga Dam and the Challawa Gorge Dam, which now control most of the water flow in the Hadejia river and have reduced seasonal flooding and overall water supply. It is estimated that the Tiga dam on the Kano river has reduced flooding by about 350 km2. A dam was built on the Hadejia river just upstream from the wetlands for irrigation purposes, completed in 1972, which has also affected flooding. The proposed Kafin Zaki Dam on the Jama'are river could pose a further threat. Due to these changes, large areas of farming and grazing land and important fish ponds have either dried up along channels blocked by invasive Typha grass, or have been flooded.
Read more about this topic: Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands
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