Gurara water multi-billion Naira commissioned
From KABIRU YUSUF, Abuja

The multi-billion Naira Water Transfer Project from Gurara, in Kaduna State through a distance of 75 kilometres to the Lower Usuma Dam in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was yesterday commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo at the site of the Gurara Dam.
The construction of the Gurara Dam and associate works were conceived and approved by the 46th Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting of December 20, 2000; with an initial contract sum of about N42 billion.
Following the long period of the project and with variations which gave rise to upward review of the project in addition to the inclusion of the associate works, the contract sum now stands at about N75billion.
Speaking at the commissioning, President Obasanjo explained that his vision for the water resources sector of the Nigerian economy is to provide sustainable access to safe and sufficient water to meet the socio-cultural and economic development needs of the country.
According to him, it was this zeal that informed the construction and rehabilitation of dams, irrigation schemes and domestic water supply projects across the country; stressing that the Gurara water project is in line with the unwavering commitment to ensuring the provision of adequate and efficient infrastructure in the FCT.
“Given its rapid population growth, the adequate state of domestic water supply in the FCT necessitated the need to explore other sources of water to supplement the present supply from the Usuma Dam. This led to the birth of the Gurara Water Transfer Project, which is expected to be able to meet the average daily raw water demand of the FCT in the next 50 years.
‘’I am informed that this project which consists of a dam with a reservoir capacity of 880 million cubic meters and a 3metre-diameter , 75 kilometre-long steel pipeline, is one of the few of its kind that exist in Africa today,’’ he added.
In his words: “In line with our administration’s commitment to improving power supply and enhanced food production, the availability of water in the reservoir has spawned a 30mw hydropower station and a 2000 hectare pilot irrigation scheme as part of the project”..
He pointed out that, these enhancements add great value to the project by boosting the potentials for small scale industries, job creations, poverty reduction and wealth creations; and urged the private sector operators to take advantage of the numerous opportunities offered by the project in the power, agricultural and ecotourism sectors.
The president had in April 2003 commissioned the pipe manufacturing factory of this project located in the ancient town of Ushafa, which he said, would boost the growth of industries in the country with the pipe firm serving as an outlet to the Ajaokuta Steel Industry and also provide a source of cheaper pipes for oil and gas industries in the Nigeria.
The minister of agriculture and waterr resources, Malam Adamu Bello, however disclosed that the “commissioning being witnessed today is for the dam and the conveyance pipeline to Lower Usuma reservoir for the FCT water supply. Work will continue for the completion of the hydropower plant and irrigation development”.
The project consists of a dam on the upper reaches of Gurara river in Kachia local government of Kaduna state and conveyance pipeline of 3.0meter diameter and 75km long that will convey raw water to lower Usuma Reservior. The water from Gurara will augment the water available from Lower Usuma reservoir to meet the FCT water demand for 50 years.