Articles | Volume 376
https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-376-35-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/piahs-376-35-2018
01 Feb 2018
 | 01 Feb 2018

Water, energy and agricultural landuse trends at Shiroro hydropower station and environs

Olubunmi Adegun, Olalekan Ajayi, Gbolahan Badru, and Shakirudeen Odunuga

Abstract. The study examines the interplay among water resources, hydropower generation and agricultural landuse at the Shiroro hydropower station and its environs, in north-central Nigeria. Non-parametric trend analysis, hydropower footprint estimation, reservoir performance analysis, change detection analysis, and inferential statistics were combined to study the water-energy and food security nexus. Results of Mann–Kendall test and Sen's slope estimator for the period 1960 to 2013 showed a declining rainfall trend at Jos, around River Kaduna headwaters at −2.6 mm yr−1, while rainfall at Kaduna and Minna upstream and downstream of the reservoir respectively showed no trend. Estimates of hydropower footprint varied between 130.4 and 704.1 m3 GJ−1 between 1995 and 2013. Power generation reliability and resilience of the reservoir was 31.6 and 38.5 % respectively with year 2011 being the most vulnerable and least satisfactory. In addition to poor reliability and resilience indices, other challenges militating against good performance of hydropower generation includes population growth and climate change issues as exemplified in the downward trend observed at the headwaters. Water inflow and power generation shows a weak positive relationship with correlation coefficient (r) of 0.48, indicating less than optimal power generation. Total area of land cultivated increased from 884.59 km2 in 1986 prior to the commissioning of the hydropower station to 1730.83 km2 in 2016 which signifies an increased contribution of the dam to ensuring food security. The reality of reducing upstream rainfall amount coupled with high water footprint of electricity from the reservoir, therefore requires that a long term roadmap to improve operational coordination and management have to be put in place.

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Short summary
The study used a combination of methods to investigate the feedback mechanisms of the food-water-energy nexus of the Shiroro hydropower station and its environs. The study shows that while there is a general decline in rainfall, coupled with low level of reservoir reliability, the area of agricultural landsue around the dam has increased significantly. In view of these realities, the study recommends that a roadmap to improve the operational coordination and management of the dam be put in place.