TITLE:
Prioritization of Water Resources Management Problems in North Central Nigeria Using Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM)
AUTHORS:
Olayinka Gafar Okeola, Khadijat Abdulkareem Abdul Raheem
KEYWORDS:
Water Resources, Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM), Stakeholders, Prioritization, North Central Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Water Resource and Protection,
Vol.8 No.3,
March
25,
2016
ABSTRACT: This study
employed the Rapid Impact Assessment Matrix (RIAM) to prioritize the water resources
management problems in the North Central Nigeria. This was done through the assessment
of the status of water resources management in the region, evaluation of existing
policy and strategy of water management, identification of the management problems
and the prioritization with RIAM. The stakeholders identified water resources management
problems, ranked them in other of severity in different categories and also evaluated
them using the RIAM techniques in the administered questionnaire. Eleven problems
were analyzed based on the physical/chemical, biological/ecological, social/cultural
and economic/operational factors using several impact indicators. Scores were assigned,
the RIAM models applied and the averages taken to arrive at the final assessment
scores. The two major water resources management problems identified are: 1) inadequate
funds for further agricultural, hydroelectric, navigation and industrial development;
2) poor data collection and banking. These problems were prioritized by RIAM in
order of severity for urgent intervention. The RIAM technique has made a key contribution
to the prioritization of water resources management by providing insights into urgent
problems according to stakeholders and thus guides the policy maker in appropriate
decision making.