Zamani College: Geography Fieldtrip Report

INTRODUCTION

Our fieldtrip was on the 18^th of June 2015. We went to Abuja to visit the lower Usuma dam and the Gurara waterfalls. We left Zamani College at about 7:50a.m. We stopped at command junction to pick up some students. We then began our journey. We passed through a lot of natural landforms such as Zuma rock. We reached Lambata-Suleja expressway after passing through Kagarko settlement. We then passed Bwari town. We reached Lower Usuma dam after spending about 3 hours on the road. We were divided into two groups. The first group were taken to the water treatment plant and the second group were taken to the dam. We switched after about 30 minutes. When we were done at lower Usuma dam, we left for Gurara waterfalls where we rested and took a lot of pictures. We then started our journey back to Kaduna. We reached Zamani college by 7:30 p.m. The fieldtrip was fun.

LOWER USUMA DAM

The dam was commissioned on the 3^rd of June 1980. It is found 26km from Abuja city and 10km from Bwari along the Dutse-Bwari road. It was built along river Usuma, the second largest river after river Gurara in the FCT. It is a perennial stream with a large network of tributaries. The Usuma drainage basin is the largest of the six drainage basins in the FCT. It runs along the north-eastern part of the FCT. It flows through the Aso-Bwari hill ranges. In 1989 treated water started to be distributed to 600000 people in the FCT. The dam has a reservoir capacity of 100 million m³ of raw water. The dam gets water from two rivers namely:

·       Yedyna river from kagarko

·       Usuma river from Nassarawa

Lower Usuma has a water treatment plant called lower Usuma dam water treatment plant (LUDWTP). It was commissioned by former president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on the 14^th of april 2013.

SITE OF THE DAM

The area is drained by six rivers namely, river layi, river kwohu, river iku, river rudu, river tapa and by many other tributaries of river Gurara that flows from north to south dropping gently from the kukke hill ranges. The area lies within the guinea savanna belt of Nigeria. The area was previously occupied by four different communities:

·       Kwabwara

·       Payi

·       Usafa

·       Jigo

The communities relied on the Usuma stream for their domestic activities. Trading, farming, and fishing were their main source of income. The residents of these settlements are involved in a resettlement scheme established by the FCDA.

The dam is divided into two i.e. the main dam and the saddle dam. The main dam embankment is 1.3 km long, 49m high and has a crest size of 10m. the saddle dam is 470m long, 15m high and has a crest size of 10m. the maximum level that the dam is supposed to reach is 575m. if the water level exceeds this level, the residents of the nearby area will have to start taking measures because a flood can occur at anytime. The engine is located at the center of the dam. Above the engine is the tower which helps in showing the amount of water in the dam. The dam is surrounded by rocks and headlands.

The LUDWTP has a total land area of 840000m² out of the 2500000m² of the whole dam. It consists of:

·       An administration building

·       A workshop

·       An electrical sub-station with a standby generator

·       4 phases

·       Supervisory control and data acquisition(SCADA) room

There are four different compartments in the plant namely: aeration unit, clarifiers, filters and the storage tanks.

In the SCADA room, there is a large screen which shows the activities of the whole plant. It monitors the turbidity of the water, the speed, the amount of water entering and leaving the plant, the amount of chlorine to be used and so on.

REASON WHY THE SITE WAS CHOSEN

The main reason why the site of the dam was chosen was because of its high altitude. This will make the flow of water easier and residents will have water at high pressure thereby reducing the dependency on machines to transport water.

INFLUENCE OF THE DAM ON THE IMMEDIATE ENVIRONS

·       The residents of the area near dam will live with the fear of a flood occurring.

·       The dam serves as a tourist attraction which will lead to the towns around the area to be developed.

·       The development of the dam has brought about an increase in the rate of water-borne diseases as the water produced has a low quality index.

·       The area used for the construction of land has lead to the loss of land for agriculture.

·       The heavy machinery may disturb the nearby residents and smoke from them is hazardous to human health.

IMPACT OF THE DAM IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS

·       The dam will keep stagnant water for a long time which will lead to the growth of fungi and other microorganisms which are dangerous to human health

·       In the next five years, the water treatment plant may be expanded and larger volume water will be treated and dispersed at a time.

·       A hydroelectric power plant may be constructed which will generate more power to the FCT.