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. Over-urbanization 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 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.