NIHSA Issues Flood Alert As Cameroon Begins Release Of Water From Lagdo Dam Into Nigeria

ABUJA – The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agen­cy (NIHSA) has confirmed that Cameroo­nian authorities have begun the release of water from Lagdo Dam. A statement on Tuesday issued by the Director General of NIHSA, Umar Ibrahim Mohammed, explained that the authorities of Lagdo Dam in Cameroon have informed the agency that the dam management will begin regulated water releases at the rate of 100m 3/s from Sep­tember 17, 2023. “The water release is expected to increase gradually to 1000m3/s in the next 7 days depending on the inflow from the upstream Garoua River which is the main feeder into the reservoir and a ma­jor contributor to the Benue River.

“However, the dam managers further stated that the planned water releases will be gradual so as not to exceed the conveyance ca­pacity of the Benue River system and cause major flooding down­stream Nigeria. “The spilling of waters from Lagdo Dam is expected to stop as soon as there is noticeable decrease in flow into the Lagdo reservoir. “The agency hereby wishes to state that there is no cause for alarm as major flooding are not ex­pected downstream Nigeria as the flow levels along the river Benue are still within the warning levels.



“Notwithstanding, it is highly imperative for all states that are contiguous to the river Benue sys­tem, namely: Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Del­ta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross-Riv­ers and Rivers; the government at all levels (Federal, State and LGAs) to step up vigilance and deploy ad­equate preparedness measures to reduce possible impacts of flood­ing that may occur as a result of increase in flow levels of our ma­jor rivers at this period. “The agency will continue to monitor closely the flow situation of the transboundary River Benue and the national inland rivers and steadily provide regular updates on water levels across major riv­ers to flood disasters,” Mohammed said..