The agency was established through the NIHSA Act of 2010, published in the Official Gazette of the Federal Government of Nigeria No.
[1] The agency was established with the core mandate of maintaining hydrological stations nationwide including carrying groundwater exploration as well as assessing Nigeria's surface and groundwater resources in terms of quantity, quality, distribution and availability in time and space.
[3] The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) was formed in 2010 through the NIHSA Act of 2010 which was signed into law on 27 August 2010 by the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
[4] The agency was formed to address the changes in the erstwhile Department of Hydrology and Hydrogeology of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.
Among the duties performed by the agency is the issuance of flood alerts in Nigeria.