Water management in the Senegal River Delta: a continuing uncertainty

Abstract. Water management is the driving force behind the productivity of the ecosystems of the Senegal River Estuary and floodplains. It is dependent on human decision-making, but has been separated from the River's flooding since the building of the Diama Dam. The current objectives of the Office de Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS: Senegal River Development Agency) are mainly turned towards the development of irrigated agriculture on the former floodplains and since 2002 the production of hydroelectric power at Manantali. In October 2003, a four-metre-wide runoff canal, which quickly widened into a breach several hundred metres across, was dug in the Barbary Spit area to protect the city of Saint-Louis from heavy flooding. The hydraulic quality of the area downstream from the dam has improved to the extent that there is no longer any flooding there, but as the management of the dams concerns only the section of the river between Manantali and Diama, a certain amount of flood risk probably still persists. The intrusion of seawater into the estuary is also threatening ecosystems and fresh water supplies, and abruptly altering agricultural practices such as fruit and vegetable growing in the Gandiolais district. When added to the tentative efforts to coordinate the management of the two dams, with no management objective downstream from Diama, such permanent modifications impose serious constraints on the managers and residents of the lower delta. This paper presents an overview of the constraints and uncertainties at different levels and scales. This wholly human-wrought environment can be considered as a learning experience, where a large number of variables need to be monitored closely and an ongoing process of participatory analysis should be backed up by multidisciplinary research.