Expert Laments Poor State Of Abuja Water Dams

Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have called on the minister, Nyesom Wike, to check the scarcity of potable water being experienced in some parts of the nation’s capital.

Through a water resources expert, Aliyu H. Abubakar, they told journalists that some challenges facing the FCT Water Board were mainly the water treatment plants, which are at risk of shutting down due to the shortage of chemicals needed to treat raw water from the Gurara Dam to Lower Usuma Dam, in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council.

He said the non-transfer of raw water from Gurara Dam, which hitherto had been done every month, has dwindled to once a year, and that “since October 2025, there had been no transfer of potable water.

Abubakar said that, in terms of water volume, the dam is currently operating at half its installed capacity.

The expert added that “another problem is that water from the Lower Usuma Dam meant for the treatment plants, which are integral to the production and distribution of potable water across Abuja and its environs, is being diverted by a company, thereby reducing the plants’ processing capacity”.

He further said the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC), for the first time in history, has thrown the Lower Usuma Dam into darkness due to what it described as the non-payment of utility bills to it by the FCT Administration.

He lamented that AEDC had commenced the disconnection of electricity to other critical FCT facilities, such as the Bwari General Hospital

“After the electricity supply was disconnected early this year, the FCT Water Board resorted to powering the turbines at the Lower Usuma Dam with two diesel-powered generators, but the generators cannot effectively power the turbines, one of which has already packed up, thus reducing the production of potable water to less than 40%,” he said.

Abubakar, therefore, appealed to the FCT minister to address the problem since water supply is an integral part of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its adequacy is as essential as good roads.