Otin River

The Otin River is a river in Osun State, Nigeria. It is impounded by the Eko-Ende Dam.

Legend
According to Yoruba mythology, the orisha Otin is personified in the Otin River. She once protected the town of Inisa from invasion by its enemies, and the townspeople now worship her as a result. Otin was originally from the town of Otan, but came to Inisa to help fight against invasions by its neighbors.

Region
The Otin River crosses the 950 km2 Odo Otin Local Government Area in the northeast of Osun state, and gives it its name. The river flows through rugged country, with elevations ranging from 35 to 400 m above sea level. Rainfall in the area is about 1400 mm, with the rainy season lasting from April to November. Land cover is partly tropical rainforest, but there is also widespread rotational bush farming and cash crops like cocoa, kola and plantain are grown around the settlements.

Course
The Otin River is 36 km long, with a peak discharge of 76.01 m3 per second. The drainage basin covers 475 km2. It is a tributary of the Erinle River. The Eko-Ende Dam in the Irepodun LGA on the Otin River was impounded in 1973 to form a reservoir with a capacity of 5.5 MCM. The headworks were designed to supply potable water to the communities of Inisa, Oba, Eko-Ende, Eko-Ajala, Ikirun, Iragbiji and Okuku. When the dam was built it flooded farmlands of the Oba people. As a quid-pro-quo, piped water was supplied to Oba. Downstream, the Erinle Dam in the Olorunda LGA is an extension of the old Ede Dam on the Erinle River. The reservoir behind the Ede-Ernle dam extends about 12 km north along the Ernle River and covers the lowest portion of the Otin River.