Focus of Presentation: <p> – Debates on efficient and sustainable water allocation & management in a transboundary river context<br> – Lessons from the Senegal River Basin experience on reconciling development and conservation imperatives

1. The Case of the Senegal River Basin
By Madiodio Niasse
IUCN-West Africa
Focus of Presentation:
– Debates on efficient and sustainable water allocation &
management in a transboundary river context
– Lessons from the Senegal River Basin experience on
reconciling development and conservation imperatives
The GEF International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource
Network (IWLEARN): Strengthening Transboundary Waters
Management via information sharing and learning among
stakeholders – Bangkok, Nov. 20th
2004

2. Introduction—Why SRV
 One of the most studied river basins in Africa
 The basin organisation OMVS generally considered as a
“success story” of transboundary cooperation on water
management
 Context in the basin has enabled innovative thinking and
experiments:
• OMVS model has inspired many efforts towards transboundary cooperation
on Water (SADC Water Protocol; NBI; etc…);
• OMVS hosts the Secretariat of the African Network of Basin Organisations
and has organised the two G.A. of ANBO held so far (in 2002 and in Nov
2004);
• Adoption of the first ever River Basin Water Charter in SSA(1992);
• Establishment of an Observatory of the Environment;
• Trailblazing role on the thinking on ecosystem water needs and on ways of
responding to such needs while pursuing development objectives : testing of
artificial flood releases from dams

3. Introduction—Presentation of the SRV
• River is 1800 km long: the second longest river in West
Africa after Niger River
• The basin is 300 Sq km shared by Guinea (11%), Mali (53%),
Mauritania (26%) and Senegal (10%)
• Population of the basin estimated at 2,5 million people, 85% of
which live near the river
• In the upper basin, SR is formed by three main contributaries :
Bafing (contributing about 50% of the river flow), Bakoye and
Faleme
• From Bakel (800 km from its mouth) the river meanders in the low
lands of the middle valley where it forms a huge and fertile
floodplain
• Each year, toward the end of the rainy season (August to October),
the floodplain is inundated by the floodwater of the Senegal River
• Area annually inundated can reach 500,000 ha during years of
high rainfall in the upper basin

4. DAKAR
NOUAKCHOTT
SENEGAL
DIAMA
MAURITANIE
MALI
BAMAKO
MANANTALI
Source: OMVS

5. STRUCTURE OF PRESENTATION
1. The OMVS Programme & its environmental and
Socio-economic Impacts of the OMVS
Programmes: Diama and Manantali Dams
2. OMVS initial reactions to unanticipated adverse
impacts of river flow alteration
3. Realising the true benefits of associated to the
natural annual flood
4. Constraints to defining and “implementing
managed flow”
5. Way Forward
6. Lessons learned

6. 1. THE OMVS PROGRAMME (1 of 4)
• OMVS (Senegal River Basin Development Authrority) has
been established in 1992 with the objective of promoting the
cooperation between Mali, Mauritania and Senegal in the
development of the Senegal River in order to respond
drought conditions that the Sahelian countries were then
confronted with
• Three key agreements
• Convention establishing OMVS
• Convention declaring the Senegal River an “international water
course”
• Convention declaring the joint infrastructure investments as common
properties of the OMVS member states

7. 1. THE OMVS PROGRAMME (2 of 4)
• The Programme, mainly through Diama and
Manantali Dams (commissioned in 1986 & 1988)
375,000 ha of land to be made available for irrigation
800 GWh/year of hydropower production
Year long navigability of the Senegal river from its month
(Senegal) to Kayes (Mali) situated 800 km upstream

8. 1. THE OMVS PROGRAMME (3 of 4)
1.1. Initial Impacts of Diama and Manantatli Dams on the
SRV Floodplain : The case of Coastal Floodplain (the
Diawling floodplain):
• Termination of flooding of the lower valley of right bank, which
includes the Diawling floodplain, which then became a quasi-
desert area;
• Destruction of the estuarine and mangrove ecosystems as a result
of the stoppage of the mixing of fresh and salt waters;
• Spectacular increase in soil salinity in some low-lying parts of the
floodplain that continued to be inundated by the influx of
seawaters, this resulting from the combined effects of termination
of seasonal natural floods and “separation” fresh and salt waters
• Proliferation of aquatic weeds (Typha, Salvinia molesta, etc.) as a
result of the permanent storage of water behind the dam
• Estimated annual loss of 10,000 tonnes of fish and shrimp catches

10. 1. THE OMVS PROGRAMME (4 of 4)
1.2. Initial Impacts of Diama and Manantatli Dams
on the SRV Floodplain -- Inland Floodplain of the
Middle Valley
• Traditional production systems associated to natural floods

11. 1. THE OMVS PROGRAMME (4 of 4)
1.2. Initial Impacts of Diama and Manantatli Dams
on the SRV Floodplain -- Inland Floodplain of the
Middle Valley
• Alteration of flow regime disorganise waalo production
systems
• Affects the ecology of the floodplain, with negative
impacts on the flora (case of the Acacia nilotica) and
fauna (case of fisheries)
• Double flood peaks damages recession agriculture
activities (1991)
• Filling of reservoir results in a « No flood » year (1990)
with catastrophic consequences on the living conditions
of riparian communities

12. 2. OMVS’ INITIAL REACTIONS (1 of 2)
• Suggested compensation for lack of flood:
– 50,000 ha of recession agriculture yields 20,000 t of
sorghum (at 400kg/ha)
– 5,000 ha or off-season irrigation yields 20,000 t of
paddy rice (at 4 tons/ha)
• One weaknesses on the proposed solution:
– It ignores many of the other socio-economic
activities dependent on the annual flood (fishing,
animal rearing, ecological benefits, etc..)

13. 2. OMVS’ INITIAL REACTIONS (2 of 2)
• Another weakness: All households involved in
recession ag. do not have access to irrigation (Chart)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Reach A Reach B Reach C Reach D Reach E reach F Reach G Reach H Reach I
Upper Reaches to Lower Reaches
Percentagesofhouseholds
Access to Recession Agriculture Access to Irrigation schemes

14. 3. REALISING THE MAGNITUDE OF
BENEFITS OF ANNUAL FLOODS
• Studies on wetlands benefits, especially in the Hadejia
Nuguru Wetlands (Northern Nigeria)
• SRBMA Studies in 1988-92
– Recession sorghum agriculture with minimal capital and labor
investments
– Fisheries benefits (avg 70 kg/ha)
– Increased livestock carrying capacity of the floodplain (0.35
TLU/ha)
– groundwater recharge with benefits on household water supply and
on gardening activities
– Forestry benefits (Acacia nilotica)
In terms of net benefits per unit of land, labour and capital,
the floodplain of the Senegal middle valley, if adequately
supplied with water, competes favourably with irrigation

15. 4. Constraints to implementing « Environmental
Flows » in the SRV(1 of 4)
• The notion of EFR is defined as the amount of water that needs to be left in
the river system (after withdrawals of diverse uses), or the amount of water
that needs to be returned to the river (through releases from dams or through
inter-basin transfers) in order to meets specific objectives related to the
condition of the river ecosystem (Adapted from King, Tharme and Brown,
1999)
• EFR is also defined as « The water regime provided within a river, wetland
or coastal zone to maintain ecosystems and their benefits where there are
competing water uses and where flows are regulated » (Dyson, Bergkamp,
Scanlon, 2003)
• EFR « takes cognisance of the need for natural flow variability and addresses
social and economic as well as biophysical one » (Davis, Hirji, 2003)
• The debate on EFR has therefore started in the SRV long before the concept
gained currency in sustainable development discourse related to water
• In the SRV context, increasing awareness of decision-makers of the benefits
of annual flood has been an initial step now largely accomplished
• Operating the dams in order to mimic the natural flooding condition is
another thing still not achieved on a sustainable basis due to a number of
CONSTRAINTS

16. 4. Constraints to implementing « Environmental
Flows » in the SRV (2 of 4)
• The Economic constraints:
A study commissioned by OMVS on the Optimisation of the benefits
from investments made (Study dated 1987) warned that the generation of
artificial floods from the Manantali Dam in order to make available
50,000 ha of recession agriculture would result in a loss of 171
GWh/year of power production, then valued at 3.591 billion CFAF
The question was then: Can the benefits generated by the « artificial
flood » compensate the forgone electricity production?
The answer was « NO » as long as the only function of the annual flood
was considered to be limited to recession agriculture
The answer became « YES » when other benefits taken into
consideration: fisheries, livestock production in particular
Despite this, many still express doubts that its makes economic sense to
pursue flood releases from Mananatali Dam

17. 4. Constraints to implementing « Environmental
Flows » in the SRV (3 of 4)
• Geopolitical Constraints:
Political constraints associated to the transboundary nature of the
SRV: Diverging interests of riparian countries
• Constraints related to Power imbalances among
stakeholders:
Voices of the rural poor vs voices of the influential urban dwellers
and industrial sector
Voices for development (irrigation, electricity, navigation, water
supply) vs Voices for nature conservation
Country Power Production Irrigation Navigation Recession
Agriculture
Guinea Potentially high None None None
Mali High Low Very Hgh Low
Mauritania Very High Very High High High
Senegal Très haute Very High High High

18. 4. Constraints to implementing « Environmental
Flows » in the SRV (4 of 4)
• Technical constraints
• True that the Manantali Dam is equipped with proper sluice gates to
generate artificial floods
BUT
Manantali only controls 40 to 60 of the annual river discharge,
hence the difficulty of synchronising controlled and uncontrolled
flow to mimic natural flow regime
 From Manantali, difficulty to generate a flow regime at the basin
level that will address the needs of all water users
Too few knowledge on EFR
Too few information on the hydrology and ecosystem water needs
in the SRV and in SSA in general
Limited human capacity to push forward the EFR agenda in SSA

19. 5. Way forward – Positive Signals from OMVS
• Opportunity created by the Water Charter
 Guinea is as a riparian country is signatory of the Charter
 ARTICLE 4 of the Charter: One of the guiding principles for water
allocation is the need to protect the environment
 ARTICLE 5, subsection on IWRM: Affirm that in allocating
available water, the necessary hydraulic conditions should be created
for the flooding of the river valley and for supporting traditional
recession agriculture
• Opportunity created by the establishment of the Observatory of
the Environment
• Opportunity that OMVS has increasingly moved toward
“regulatory” functions

20. 5. Way forward – The Diawling Experience (1 of 2)
The restoration of the Diawling Floodplain shows that EFR is
possible even in data poor context (IK; trial and error; etc..).
What was done?
 valuing local knowledge, especially on the pre-dam hydrology
and its ecological and socio-economic dimensions
 coupling “scientific” investigations with extensive consultations
with all relevant stakeholders: fishermen, gatherers of forest
products, herders, etc.
 Formulating a management plan (1996)
 Improving existing small infrastructures built by OMVS as a
part of the implementation of the recommendations of the EIA
 building of additional embankments and sluice gates for
improved inundation of the floodplain

21. 5. Way forward – The Diawling Experience (2 of 2)
 Conducting artificial flood releases largely on the basis of a trial-and error
approach:
• First experimental releases took place in 1995
• Computer-based simulation of flood scenarios and their impacts on the ecosystem
and associated activities were only done at a later stage
• Once the flood scenarios were defined, stakeholder consultations and debates
took place on the advantages and disadvantages of the various scenarios
• Broad agreement on win-win flood management options (or compromise
scenarios) resulted from these stakeholder consultations and negotiations
 Results of the Restoration of the Diawling Floodplain
• Fish and shrimp populations have now dramatically increased.
• Groundwater recharge have improved, which boots gardening activities
• Women have resumed their traditional mat weaving activities, using
sticks of Sporobolus robustus] et the fruits of Acacia nilotica these
species having regenerated thanks to improved re-inundation of the
floodplain
• The Diawling National Park has become a zone of seasonal transit for
thousands of migratory birds.

22. Year Maximum flood
extent (ha)
Fish catches (kg) Waterbirds (units
counted)
1992 - <1000 2216
1993 - <1000 5292
1994 15020 10000 66100
1995 16240 15000 32300
1996 10100 10800 14400
1997 20320 25500 40900
1998 27050 74500 35098
1999 29890 113800 38413
2000 32390 No data No data
Table: Maximum flood extent, amount of fish catches and number waterbirds in the right
bank of the Lower Senegal River Source. Hamerlynck et al. 2003

23. 0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
Flood extent Fish catches Birds counted
Fig: Flood extent, Fish catches and population of waterbirds in the Diawling area. Adapted
from: Hamerlynck et al. 2003

24. 5. Way forward – The GEF SRV Project
 The GEF Project for the management of water and
environmental resources of the SRV aims to create a
participatory environment at the entire basin level (including
Guinea) that enables transboundary cooperation for the
sustainable management of the resources of the SRV
The Public Participation Component of the GEF Project
• Identifying the needs and perspectives of water users
• Making the voices of water users, especially the poor
farmers, heard and taken into consideration in the CPE
deliberations
• Improving awareness of CSO and the general public
• Ensuring mobilisation and involvement of available scientific
expertise in basin countries

25. 5. Way forward – The Project for Improving
Floodplain Productivity
 Rationale is to seize current window of opportunity where there
is limited competition between irrigation and navigation on the
one hand and annual flood releases on the other hand
 The Project goal is to improve the conditions of the inundation
of selected « cuvettes » in the floodplain, with the objectives of:
• Limiting or correcting the imperfections related to artificial releases from
Manantali (double peaks, etc..)
• Optimising the duration and timing of flooding taking into consideration
the needs of the ecosystems and flood-dependent economic activities
• Collecting data to be used in the negotiation for and against the flood

26. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 1. A free flowing river generally has
benefits attached to it, and it is a mistake to
assume the opportunity costs of altering the
natural flow of a river to be zero.
• By comparing and balancing the total impacts
(positive and negative) of the OMVS Programme on
the right bank of the lower Senegal River, it is
difficult to determine if local communities really
benefited from the venture or were net losers. In any
case, it seems evident that the benefits of the free
flowing river were neglected.

27. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 2. Even if there exist a political will, it
is technically a real challenge to conceive
and implement flow regimes that respond to
the needs and priorities of all water users at
the river basin level
From any flow regime scenario implemented at the
basin level they will losers and gainers. These
imbalances and risks of inequity can be attenuated
by managing the waters at the local sub-basin level
(eg. Diawling Floodplain)

28. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 3. In contexts of limited data
availability as is often the case in Africa
(data on the hydrology or responses of
ecosystems to varying flood patterns), local
people’s knowledge can be an excellent
source of information for determining
empirically ecosystem water needs.
Lack of hydrological data should not be therefore
an excuse for not developing and implementing
“environmental flows”.

29. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 4. Ecosystem restoration is a long-term
effort and socio-economic benefits attached to it
take time to materialise.
In this context it is real challenge to combat poverty through
ecosystem management: poor people often require short-term
solutions to their survival needs. IUCN addressed this
challenge by promoting income-generating activities
(horticulture, employment in project activities like
construction works of project offices and of embankments,
etc…) while working on the restoration of the Diawling
ecosystem

30. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 5. Ecosystem needs (restoration of
pre-dam flow patterns) are often
synchronised with the needs of poor people
whose livelihoods are largely based on
flood-dependent activities such as fishing,
gathering wild products, livestock rearing,
etc…
On the basis of this, there exists opportunities for building
a coalition between environmental advocates and local
communities.

31. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 6. Given the diversity of benefits generated
by ecosystems when properly managed, the
question is whether we should not be concerned
more by generating more values per drop.
This means that in the allocation of available water priority
should be given to uses that generate per each drop allocated
more benefits and values at the lowest economic, social and
environmental costs. Under this paradigm shift ecosystems
compete more favourably with other sectors such as
agriculture, hydropower production, etc.

32. 6. LESSONS LEARNED
Lesson 7. In Africa, the majority of the
population, especially the poor, largely rely
on the exploitation of highly water-
dependent natural resources (traditional
agriculture, fisheries, livestock rearing,
exploitation of forest products).
In this context there is need to better explore the
opportunities of contributing to MDG (poverty
reduction, access to safe water, etc.) through
ecosystem restoration and enhancement.