Development's deaf ear: Downstream users and water releases from the Bakolori Dam, Nigeria

Construction of the Bakolori Dam on the Sokoto River, Nigeria, altered the pattern of wet season flooding, with consequential adverse impacts on downstream agriculture. Such impacts are not uncommon in tropical floodplain rivers, and one strategy proposed to offset them is the release of controlled flood flows from dams. Experience with such compensation floods is needed. On the Sokoto, both downstream farmers and the engineers responsible for the supply of water to Sokoto City sought to influence the operation of the Bakolori Dam to increase the amount of water available to them. This paper describes the debates between those managing the dam about the need for and proper nature of releases for downstream users. It considers the relative failure of the farmers and success of the engineers in the context of disciplinary bias and problems of communication.