The Federal Government, UNESCO and other partners have committed towards supporting groundwater management for water security.
The commitment came at a two-day validation and capacity building workshop organised by UNESCO.
Groundwater is water that is found beneath the surface of the earth in conditions of 100 per cent saturation.
Groundwater can be found in aquifers. An aquifer is a body of water-saturated sediment or rock in which water can move readily.
The event, which held in Abuja, was in collaboration with the National Water Resources Institute (NWRI) and Kaduna and the Regional Centre for Integrated River Basin Management (RC-IRBM).
The workshop focused on the sub-project “Improving Groundwater Governance towards Achieving Sustainable Water Security for Human Settlements in Nigeria.”
The sub-project is being implemented within the framework of the UNESCO Korean Fund-in-Trust (K-FIT) funded project titled “Water Security for Human Settlements in Developing Countries under Climate Change.”
It aims at improving knowledge-based management and governance of groundwater resources to support Nigeria in achieving sustainable water security for human settlements and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Prof. Joseph Utsev, Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, said that sustainable water solutions at the local, regional and global levels required creativity, new scientific knowledge, discoveries and innovation.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Richard Pheelangwah, Utsev said the workshop would strengthen the capacity of groundwater experts on the tools developed by UNESCO.
“The Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation will support any effort aimed at delivering insight into modern approaches for sustainably managing our vast groundwater resources, for increased water access and coverage,” he said.
He urged that recommendations from the workshop should align with national priorities in terms of sustainable water security, adaptable to climate change for human settlement in Nigeria and groundwater quality.