Abstract:
The main goals of rural development are to improve the living conditions and reduce poverty among the people and hence water which is essential for life must be obtained in adequate quantity and quality in order to ensure human and economic development. The need to ensure adequate provision of potable water over the years to Nigerians in rural, semi-urban and urban communities had been a challenge in spite of the abundance of water resources. The challenges of water supply have constituted a factor inducing conflicts in some parts of the world because the earth’s fresh water is diminishing due to man’s activities and climate change. Water, which is the crux of this research, can be viewed as an aspect of economic infrastructure. Studies on fresh water have hitherto been confined to professionals such as hydrologists, engineers, scientists, city planners and meteorologists. One hundred questionnaires were randomly distributed among dwellers in each of the eighteen local government areas of Ondo state, to make a total of one thousand and eight hundred questionnaires distributed. The questionnaire was meant to answer the question of the causes of water shortage in all the local government areas visited. The study evaluated water poverty index using two approaches, The simple Time Analysis Approach and the Composite Index Approach and related the findings together to determine the degree of water stress in all the local government areas in the state and recommend realistic measures to address the pathetic situation. The results obtained from the two approaches indicated that Ese-Odo, Ilaje and Irele local government areas were the most water-stressed regions in the state, while areas such as Ose, Owo, Ondo West and Ondo East local government areas have fair access to portable water. . However, this paper concludes that to prevent the occurrence of virtual water situation and improve water supply, researches of this nature should be conducted from time to time and government at all levels should holistically address the problems it is also recommended that community dwellers be enlightened on proper handling of taps that supply water.
