[en] Effective public policies are needed to manage a nation’s natural resources, including soil and water. However, making such policies currently requires a shift from a traditional qualitative approach to a mix of scientific data, evidence and the relevant social elements, termed data-driven policymaking. Nigeria, like most developing countries, falls short of the framework for this approach. Nevertheless, the lack of potable water in some regions and the continuous degradation of farmable lands call for intervention through effective policy formulation and implementation. In this work, we present a conceptual workflow as a strategic step towards developing a framework for a data-driven soil and water resources management policy. A review of the current legal and policy framework and selected scientific literature on soil and water resources in Nigeria is presented. Analysis of the National Water Resources Bill proposed in 2018 is used to highlight existing gaps between policy, scientific data and reality. Modern field techniques and project-based examples for soil and aquifer characterization that can be adapted for local use are presented. While government must take responsibility for the poor policy framework, the research community is challenged on the need for scientific data as a base for effective policy formulation and implementation.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Doro, Kennedy O.; University of Toledo > Environmental Sciences
scite shows how a scientific paper has been cited by providing the context of the citation, a classification describing whether it supports, mentions, or contrasts the cited claim, and a label indicating in which section the citation was made.
Bibliography
Steiner, F.J. Soil conservation policy in the United States. Environ. Manag. 1987, 11, 209-223.
National Research Council. Soil and Water Quality: An Agenda for Agriculture; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, USA, 1993; p. 542.
Binswanger-Mkhize, H.P.; Meinzen-Dick, R.; Ringler, C. Policies, Rights, and Institutions for Sustainable Management of Land and Water Resources; Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2009.
Von Braun, J.; Gulati, A.; Kharas, H. Key policy actions for sustainable land and water use to serve people. Econ. Open Access Open Assess. E J. 2017.
Poláková, J.; Berman, S.; Naumann, S.; Frelih-Larsen, A.; von Toggenburg, J.; Farmer, A. Sustainable Management of Natural Resources with a Focus on Water and Agriculture; Report Prepared for the STOA Panel of the European Parliament; Institute for European Environmental Policy; BIO Intelligence Service, Ecologic Institut: Brussels, Belgium, 2013.
Binley, A.; Hubbard, S.S.; Huisman, J.A.; Revil, A.; Robinson, D.A.; Singha, K.; Slater, L.D. The emergence of hydrogeophysics for improved understanding of subsurface processes over multiple scales. Water Resour. Res. 2015, 51, 3837-3866.
Lapworth, D.J.; Nkhuwa, D.C.W.; Okotto-Okotto, J.; Pedley, S.; Stuart, M.E.; Tijani, M.N.; Wright, J.J.H.J. Urban groundwater quality in sub-Saharan Africa: Current status and implications for water security and public health. Hydrogeol. J. 2017, 25, 1093-1116.
Sorensen, J.P.R.; Lapworth, D.J.; Nkhuwa, D.C.W.; Stuart, M.E.; Gooddy, D.C.; Bell, R.A.; Chirwa, M.; Kabika, J.; Liemisa, M.; Chibesa, M.; et al. Emerging contaminants in urban groundwater sources in Africa. Water Res. 2015, 72, 51-63.
Edet, A. Hydrogeology and groundwater evaluation of a shallow coastal aquifer, southern Akwa Ibom State (Nigeria). J. Appl. Water Sci. 2017, 7, 2397-2412.
Esty, D.; Rushing, R. The Promise of Data-Driven Policymaking. Issues Sci. Technol. 2007, 23, 67-72.
Van Veenstra, A.F.; Kotterink, B.; Parycek, P.; Charalabidis, Y.; Chugunov, A.V.; Panagiotopoulos, P.; Pardo, T.A.; Seebo; 0ystein; Tambouris, E. Data-Driven Policy Making: The Policy Lab Approach. In Applications of Evolutionary Computation; Springer Science and Business Media LLC: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2017; Volume 10429, pp. 100-111.
Kelkar, M.; Viechnicki, P.; Conlin, S.; Frey, R.; Strickland, F. Data-driven decision making in government. In Deloitte Insights; Deloitte Insight: London, UK, 2016; Available online: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/ insights/industry/public-sector/data-driven-decision-making-in-government-summary.html (accessed on 17 February 2020).
Doro, K.O.; Cirpka, O.A.; Leven, C. Tracer Tomography: Design Concepts and Field Experiments Using Heat as a Tracer. Ground Water 2014, 53, 139-148.
Knapp, J.L.A.; González-Pinzón, R.; Drummond, J.D.; Larsen, L.G.; Cirpka, O.A.; Harvey, J.W. Tracer-based characterization of hyporheic exchange and benthic biolayers in streams. Water Resour. Res. 2017, 53, 1575-1594.
Schwede, R.L.; Li, W.; Leven, C.; Cirpka, O.A. Three-dimensional geostatistical inversion of synthetic tomographic pumping and heat-tracer tests in a nested-cell setup. Adv. Water Resour. 2014, 63, 77-90.
Cardiff, M.; Barrash, W.; Kitanidis, P.K. Hydraulic conductivity imaging from 3-D transient hydraulic tomography at several pumping/observation densities. Water Resour. Res. 2013, 49, 7311-7326.
Butler, J.J. Hydrogeological Methods for Estimation of Spatial Variations in Hydraulic Conductivity. In Hydrogeophysics; Rubin, Y., Hubbard, S.S., Eds.; Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2005; pp. 23-58.
Yaramanci, U.; Kemna, A.; Vereecken, H. Emerging Technologies in Hydrogeophysics. In Hydrogeophysics; Rubin, Y., Hubbard, S.S., Eds.; Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2005.
Li, W.; Englert, A.; Cirpka, O.A.; Vanderborght, J.; Vereecken, H. Two-dimensional characterization of hydraulic heterogeneity by multiple pumping tests. Water Resour. Res. 2007, 43.
Sudicky, E.A.; Illman, W.A.; Goltz, I.K.; Adams, J.J.; McLaren, R.G. Heterogeneity in hydraulic conductivity and its role on the macroscale transport of a solute plume: From measurements to a practical application of stochastic flow and transport theory. Water Resour. Res. 2010, 46.
Rein, A.; Popp, S.; Zacharias, S.; Leven, C.; Bittens, M.; Dietrich, P.J.E.E.S. Comparison of approaches for the characterization of contamination at rural megasites. Environ. Earth Sci. 2011, 63, 1239-1249.
Longe, E.; Omole, D.O.; Adewum, I.K.; Ogbiye, A.S. Water resources use, abuse and regulation in Nigeria. J. Sustain. Dev. Afr. 2010, 5, 35-44.
Adelana, S.M.A.; Olasehinde, P.I.; Bale, R.B.; Vrbka, P.; Edet, A.E.; Goni, I.B. An overview of the geology and hydrogeology of Nigeria. Appl. Groundw. Stud. Afr. 2008, 23, 171-197.
Obo, B.R.; Eteng, F.O.; Coker, M.A. Public Opinion and the Public Policy Making Process in Nigeria: A Critical Assessment. Can. Soc. Sci. 2014, 20, 85-92.
Enyidi, U.D. Portable water and national water policy in Nigeria (A historical synthesis, pitfall and the way forward). J. Agric. Econ. Rural Dev. 2017, 3, 105-111.
Adeoti, O. Challenges to managing water resources along the hydrological boundaries in Nigeria. Water Policy 2007, 9, 105-118.
Utuk, E.I. Britain's Colonial Administrations and Developments, 1861-1960: An Analysis of Britain's Colonial Administrations and Developments in Nigeria. Ph.D. Thesis, Portland State University, Portland, OR, USA, 1975.
Nowak, W.; Cirpka, O.A. Geostatistical inference of hydraulic conductivity and dispersivities from hydraulic heads and tracer data. Water Resour. Res. 2006, 42.
Riva, M.; Guadagnini, L.; Guadagnini, A.; Ptak, T.; Martac, E. Probabilistic study of well capture zones distribution at the Lauswiesen field site. J. Contam. Hydrol. 2006, 88, 92-118.
Singh, A.; Bürger, C.M.; Cirpka, O.A. Optimized Sustainable Groundwater Extraction Management: General Approach and Application to the City of Lucknow, India. Water Resour. Manag. 2013, 27, 4349-4368.
Daniels, J.J.; Allred, B.; Binley, A.; Labrecque, D.; Alumbaugh, D. Hydrogeophysical Case Studies in the Vadose Zone. In Hydrogeophysics; Rubin, Y., Hubbard, S.S., Eds.; Springer Netherlands: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 2005.
Ptak, T.; Piepenbrink, M.; Martac, E. Tracer tests for the investigation of heterogeneous porous media and stochastic modelling of flow and transport-A review of some recent developments. J. Hydrol. 2004, 294, 122-163.
Christy, T.; Farrington, S.; McCall, W.; Nielsen, D. Use of Direct-Push Technologies in Environmental Site Characterization and Ground-Water Monitoring. In Practical Handbook of Environmental Site Characterization and Ground-Water Monitoring, 2nd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 2005; pp. 345-471.
Doro, K.O.; Leven, C.; Cirpka, O.A. Delineating subsurface heterogeneity at a loop of River Steinlach using geophysical and hydrogeological methods. Environ. Earth Sci. 2013, 69, 335-348.
Dietrich, P.; Leven, C. Direct Push-Technologies. In Groundwater Geophysics: A Tool for Hydrogeology; Kirsch, R., Ed.; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2006; pp. 321-340.
Genereux, D.; Guardiario, J. A borehole flowmeter investigation of small-scale hydraulic conductivity variation in the Biscayne Aquifer, Florida. Water Resour. Res. 2001, 37, 1511-1517.
Linde, N.; Chen, J.; Kowalsky, M.B.; Hubbard, S. Hydrogeophysical parameter estimation approaches for field scale characterization. In Applied Hydrogeophysics; Springer Science and Business Media LLC: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2007; Volume 71, pp. 9-44.
Doro, K.O. Developing Tracer Tomography as a Field Technique for Aquifer Characterization. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Tuebingen, Tuebingen, Germany, 2015.
Cirpka, O.A.; Leven, C.; Schwede, R.; Doro, K.; Bastian, P.; Ippisch, O.; Klein, O.; Patzelt, A. Tomographic Methods in Hydrogeology. In Tomography of the Earth's Crust: From Geophysical Sounding to Real-Time Monitoring: GEOTECHNOLOGIEN Science Report No. 22; Weber, M., Münch, U., Eds.; Springer International Publishing: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2014; pp. 157-176.
Ortuani, B.; Benedetto, A.; Giudici, M.; Mele, M.; Tosti, F. A Non-invasive Approach to Monitor Variability of Soil Water Content with Electromagnetic Methods. Procedia Environ. Sci. 2013, 29, 446-455.
Pollock, D.; Cirpka, O.A. Fully coupled hydrogeophysical inversion of synthetic salt tracer experiments. Water Resour. Res. 2010, 46.
Hendricks Franssen, H.J.; Alcolea, A.; Riva, M.; Bakr, M.; van der Wiel, N.; Stauffer, F.; Guadagnini, A. A comparison of seven methods for the inverse modelling of groundwater flow. Application to the characterisation of well catchments. Adv. Water Resour. 2009, 32, 851-872.
Xu, Y.; Usher, B. (Eds.) Nitrate pollution in Nigeria. In Groundwater Pollution in Africa; UNEP/Earthprint: Nairobi, Kenya, 2006.
Ugbaja, A.N.; Edet, A.E. Groundwater pollution near shallow waste dumps in Southern Calabar, South-Eastern Nigeria. Glob. J. Geol. Sci. 2004, 2, 199-206.
Abimbola, A.; Odukoya, A.; Adesanya, O. The environmental impact assessment of waste disposal site on groundwater in Oke-Ado, Lagos, Southwestern Nigeria. In Proceedings of the 15th Annual Conf. Nigerian Association Hydrogeologists, Kaduna, Nigeria, 3-7 November 2002; p. 42.
Edet, A.; Okereke, C. A regional study of saltwater intrusion in southeastern Nigeria based on the analysis of geoelectrical and hydrochemical data. Environ. Geol. 2001, 40, 1278-1289.
Aizebeokhai, A.P.; Olayinka, A.I.; Singh, V.S. Application of 2D and 3D geoelectrical resistivity imaging for engineering site investigation in a crystalline basement terrain, southwestern Nigeria. Environ. Earth Sci. 2010, 61, 1481-1492.
Terhemba, B.S.; Daniel, O.; David, M.; Chukudebelu, J.U.; Ezema, P.O. Aquifers Characterization and Classification Using Electromagnetic and Galvanic Resistivity Methods in Basement Complex, Katsina-Ala, Central Nigeria. Int. J. Sci. Technolodge 2016, 4, 10-21.
Ayolabi, E.A.; Folorunso, A.F.; Odukoya, A.M.; Adeniran, A.E. Mapping saline water intrusion into the coastal aquifer with geophysical and geochemical techniques: The University of Lagos campus case (Nigeria). SpringerPlus 2013, 2, 433.
Edet, A.; Abdelaziz, R.; Merkel, B.; Okereke, C.; Nganje, T. Numerical Groundwater Flow Modeling of the Coastal Plain Sand Aquifer, Akwa Ibom State, SE Nigeria. J. Water Resour. Prot. 2014.
Ophori, D.U. A simulation of large-scale groundwater flow in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Environ. Geosci. 2007, 14, 181-195.
Igboekwe, M.U.; Gurunadha Rao, V.V.S.; Okwueze, E.E. Groundwater flow modelling of Kwa Ibo River watershed, southeastern Nigeria. Hydrol. Process. 2008, 22, 1523-1531.
Salamon, M.L. The new governance and the tools of public action: An Introduction. In The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance; Salamon, L.M., Ed.; Oxford University Press: New York, NY, USA, 2002.
Morestin, F. A Framework for Analyzing Public Policies: Practical Guide; National Collaborating Centre for Healthy Public Policy: Montreal, QC, Canada, 2012.
Kuruk, P. Customary water laws and practices: Nigeria; FAO-United Nations: Rome, Italy, 2019.
Land Use Act. In Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990; Federal Government of Nigeria: Lagos, Nigeria, 1990.
Maduekwe, N. The Land Tenure System under the Customary Law. 2014. Available online: https: //ssrn.com/abstract=2813056 (accessed on 17 February 2020).
Udoekanem, N.B.; Adoga, D.O.; Onwumere, V.U. Land Ownership in Nigeria: Historical Development, Current Issues and Future Expectations. J. Environ. Earth Sci. 2014, 4, 182-189.
Onyenekenwa, C.E. Improving the access to portable water in Nigeria. Afr. J. Sci. 2007, 8, 1962-1971.
Haider, H. Climate Change in Nigeria: Impacts and Responses. Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development, Helpdesk Report. 2019. Available online: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/ 5dcd7a1aed915d0719bf4542/675_Climate_Change_in_Nigeria.pdf (accessed on 10 May 2020).
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER). Accountability and Performance of Government Agencies in the Delivery ofWater, Education and Road Services in Nigeria; Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER): Ibadan, Nigeria, 2012; p. 73.
Onyenekenwa, C.E.; Agbazue, V.C. Protection of Nigeria's Environment: A Critical Policy Review. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2011, 4, 490-497.
Danladi, D.; Naankiel, P.W. River Basin Development Authorities and Nigeria's Economic Development since 1960. J. Fac. Arts Islamic Stud. 2019, 17, 52-66.
JICA. Nigeria Water Resources Master Plan; Federal Ministry of Water Resources: Abuja, Nigeria, 2014.
JICA. Nigeria Water Resources Master Plan; Federal Ministry of Water Resources: Abuja, Nigeria, 1995.
Utomi, J. Nigeria: National Water Resources Bill-Crucial issues and concerns. Guardian. 2018. Available online: https://guardian.ng/opinion/national-water-resources-bill-crucial-issues-and-concerns/ (accessed on 4 May 2020).
Yagboyaju, D.A. Deploying evidence-based research for socio-economic development policies in Nigeria. Afr. Public Serv. Deliv. Perform. Rev. 2019, 7, 9.
Guo, H.; Lin, H. Critical Zone Research and Observatories: Current status and future perspectives. Vadose Zone J. 2016, 15.
Riva, M.; Guadagnini, A.; Fernandez-Garcia, D.; Sanchez-Vila, X.; Ptak, T. Relative importance of geostatistical and transport models in describing heavily tailed breakthrough curves at the Lauswiesen site. J. Contam. Hydrol. 2008, 101, 1-13.
Lessoff, S.C.; Schneidewind, U.; Leven, C.; Blum, P.; Dietrich, P.; Dagan, G. Spatial characterization of the hydraulic conductivity using direct-push injection logging. Water Resour. Res. 2010, 46, W12502.
Young, S.; Plummer, R.; FitzGibbon, J. What can we learn from exemplary groundwater protection programs? Can. Water Resour. J. 2009, 34, 61-78.
Common Wealth of Australia. Guidelines for Groundwater Protection in Australia; Agricultural and Resources Management Council of Austrialia and New Zealand: Acton, Australia, 1995; p. 88.
Zhu, Y.; Balke, K.D. Groundwater protection: What can we learn from Germany? J. Zhejiang Univ. Sci. 2008, 9, 227-231.
Burgess, D.B.; Fletcher, S.W. Methods used to delineate groundwater source protection zones in England and Wales. Geol. Soc. Lond. Spec. Publ. 1998, 130, 217.
Staboultzidis, A.; Dokou, Z.; Karatzas, G.P. Capture Zone Delineation and Protection Area Mapping in the Aquifer of Agia, Crete, Greece. Environ. Process. 2017, 4, 95-112.
Environmental Agency. Groundwater Source Protection Zones. 2015. Available online: http://apps. environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/37833.aspx (accessed on 7 May 2020).
Schleyer, R.; Milde, G.; Milde, K. Wellhead protection zones in Germany: Delineation, research and management. Water Environ. J. 1992, 6, 303-310.
Strobi, R.O.; Robillard, P.D. Comparison of several EPA-Recommended U. S and German wellhead protection area delineation methods in agricultural settings. Water SA 2006, 32, 508-517.
Mueller, B. Why public policy fail: Policymaking under complexity. EconomiA 2019.
Jones, J.; Lee, D.; Bayhi, L. The Data-Driven Policy Analysis Framework as a Template for Healthcare Policy Analysis. Ann. Nurs. Res. Pract. 2018, 1, 1005.
Sabatier, P.A. Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches to Implementation Research: A Critical Analysis and Suggested Synthesis. J. Public Policy 1986, 6, 21-48.
Crescenzi, R.; Rodriíguez-Pose, A.S. Reconciling top-down and bottom-up development policies. Environ. Plan. A 2011, 43, 773-780.
Annamalai, T.R.; Devkar, G.; Mahalingam, A.; Benjamin, S.; Rajan, S.C.; Deep, A. What is the Evidence on Top-Down and Bottom-up Approaches in Improving Access to Water, Sanitation and Electricity Services in Low-Income or Informal Settlements? EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, UCL Institute of Education, University College London: London, UK, 2016.
Walker, W.E.; Loucks, D.P.; Carr, G. Social Responses to Water Management Decisions. Environ. Process. 2015, 2, 485-509.
Similar publications
Sorry the service is unavailable at the moment. Please try again later.
This website uses cookies to improve user experience. Read more
Save & Close
Accept all
Decline all
Show detailsHide details
Cookie declaration
About cookies
Strictly necessary
Performance
Strictly necessary cookies allow core website functionality such as user login and account management. The website cannot be used properly without strictly necessary cookies.
This cookie is used by Cookie-Script.com service to remember visitor cookie consent preferences. It is necessary for Cookie-Script.com cookie banner to work properly.
Performance cookies are used to see how visitors use the website, eg. analytics cookies. Those cookies cannot be used to directly identify a certain visitor.
Used to store the attribution information, the referrer initially used to visit the website
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. Websites use cookies to help users navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. Cookies that are required for the website to operate properly are allowed to be set without your permission. All other cookies need to be approved before they can be set in the browser.
You can change your consent to cookie usage at any time on our Privacy Policy page.