Sustainable groundwater management in Lagos, Nigeria: the regulatory framework

Abstract

This doctoral research focuses on groundwater degradation in Lagos, Nigeria.Groundwater is a critically important natural resource in Lagos that is presently troubled by pollution that emanates from solid waste and wastewater. The city generates 10,000 metric tons of waste and 350 million gallons of wastewater daily, all of which are improperly managed and are heavily polluting its groundwater. This direct environmental pollution is aggravated by indirect problems of over-urbanization, and legal and institutional shortcomings. Overurbanization in Lagos has resulted into a monumental population of 21 million people in the tiny city, which generates the enormous quantities of solid waste and wastewater. The population places a tremendous burden on the city's water resources, forcing residents to revert to groundwater which is suffering the plight of pollution, and hence the concern of this research.The pollution problem is worsened by civic apathy to environmental matters, and unresolved by a nascent water sector whose evolving governance structures do not adequately address the multi-dimensional pollution problem. In the final analysis, the absence of holistic and comprehensive groundwater legislation that addresses all these problems challenges the sustainability of this vital resource.The research adopts a cross-disciplinary approach by combining several methodologies: historical legal analysis, important insights from scientific studies and from sociological studies that rationalize the demographical movement to Lagos which is at the root of the pollution problem; field work investigation to confirm the fact, source, and extent of polluted groundwater; and a comparative approach by examining the European Union's legal framework for managing groundwater and waste in order to extract sustainable practices for adoption in Lagos. It concludes with a range of recommendations for incorporation into a legal framework iii that will help to improve the sustainability of the groundwater resource. The study contributes to knowledge by attempting to close a vacuum, which is the paucity of studies that investigate underlying social factors that trigger groundwater pollution, and also by providing broad and holistic recommendations for law reform. It addresses the role of law in remediating the pollution, managing the effects of over-urbanization and overpopulation on groundwater, strengthening institutions, and eliminating legal inadequacies.iv Water, which is composed of both surface and groundwater, is an ancient and fundamental resource which is unarguably indispensable to human life. It is the life force of the planet.2 As a finite resource, national governments, international organizations, and scholars now acknowledge that water is crucial to life, to social development, to poverty alleviation, to health and to economic development. Dependable water supplies contribute to the growth of national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but lack of water promotes economic stagnation and decline. 3Water is used in the dire...

Sustainable wastewater management: An imperative for urban development in Lagos, Nigeria

“…The building up in the water bodies' metal concentrations severely threatens the aquatic habitat and human beings that consume these marine animals (Akinkuolie et al, 2021). Similarly, leakage from on-site systems steadily increases groundwater contamination, a difficulty exacerbated by the high-water table (Habila, 2018;Kuvaja, 2001;Ogunba, 2006). Oluwatosin et al (2016) et al (2016, p. 38) define urban resilience as the ability of an "urban system-and all it is constituent socio-ecological and socio-technical networks across temporal and spatial scales to maintain or rapidly return to desired functions in the face of a disturbance, to adapt to change and to transform systems that limit current or future adaptive capacity quickly."…”

“…Statistics indicate a population growth of 3,000,000 between 2014 and 2017 and an additional 2,000,000 as of 2022 (Population Statistics, 2022), making it the biggest city on the African continent. These statistics are contested by the Nigerian Government (Kayode et al, 2018; Ogunba, 2006).…”

“…Adewunmi and Oguntuase (2016) contend that these everyday activities generate sizeable quantities of wastewater. Lagos generates 350 million gallons of wastewater daily, which contaminates the city's groundwater (Adewunmi & Oguntuase, 2016; Ogunba, 2006). “As the overall water demand grows, the quantity of wastewater produced, and its overall pollution load are continuously increasing worldwide” (WWAP, 2017, p.1).…”

“…The building up in the water bodies' metal concentrations severely threatens the aquatic habitat and human beings that consume these marine animals (Akinkuolie et al, 2021). Similarly, leakage from on‐site systems steadily increases groundwater contamination, a difficulty exacerbated by the high‐water table (Habila, 2018; Kuvaja, 2001; Ogunba, 2006).…”

Application of Remote Sensing, GIS and Hydrogeophysics to Groundwater Exploration in parts of Lagos Metropolis: A case study of Oshodi/Isolo LGA

“…Water, composed of both surface and groundwater is one of the most significant natural resources which support both human needs and economic development (Ogunba, 2016). As a result of the increasing population and the demand for good quality water to meet the growing needs; such as the agricultural, industrial and domestic uses, quite a lot of attention has been placed on surface water being a component of the hydrological cycle for water supply, particularly in urban areas, while groundwater was considered only as a means of rural water supply.…”