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
This presentation was delivered on the 10th of December 2018 in Vientiane by Jeremy Carew-Reid at the MRC final stakeholder workshop as part of the Environmental Study of the Lancang-Mekong Development Plan (LMDP) project.
T4: GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND WATER GOVERNANCETHE EGYPTIAN EXPERIENCEFAO
GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND WATER GOVERNANCETHE EGYPTIAN EXPERIENCE, By Fatma Abdel Rahman Attia,Professor Emeritus, Research Institute for GroundwaterThe National Water Research CenterMinistry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan
This presentation was delivered on the 10th of December 2018 in Vientiane by Jeremy Carew-Reid at the MRC final stakeholder workshop as part of the Environmental Study of the Lancang-Mekong Development Plan (LMDP) project.
T4: GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND WATER GOVERNANCETHE EGYPTIAN EXPERIENCEFAO
GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT AND WATER GOVERNANCETHE EGYPTIAN EXPERIENCE, By Fatma Abdel Rahman Attia,Professor Emeritus, Research Institute for GroundwaterThe National Water Research CenterMinistry of Water Resources and Irrigation, Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan
This presentation was delivered on the 10th of December 2018 in Vientiane by Peter-John Meynell at the MRC final stakeholder workshop as part of the Environmental Study of the Lancang-Mekong Development Plan (LMDP) project.
T7: SUSTAINABLE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF INTEGRATED ...FAO
SUSTAINABLE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT, BY: A.ELMAJOUDI, Water, Soil Conservation and Forests Protection Division (HCEFLCD- MOROCCO), Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan
New efforts in planning for large scale ecosystem restoration in the Sacramen...Cory Copeland
The Delta Stewardship Council (Council) is responsible for promoting the coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem that forms the upper portion of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. The Council is responsible for writing an enforceable Delta Plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. After a multi-year development process that included extensive public engagement and scientific synthesis, the Council, in 2020, authorized initiation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) environmental review of its proposed amendment to the Delta Plan focused on ecosystem protection, restoration, and enhancement. The amendment consists of six new and revised ecosystem performance measures, an updated narrative which includes four new and revised policies and 14 recommendations, and seven technical and regulatory appendices. The amendment is novel in that it focuses on landscape-scale process-based restoration, acknowledges the many social benefits from ecosystem restoration, utilizes advanced technical climate change analyses informed by best available science, and employs more rigorous tracking of progress in meeting Delta Plan objectives. The amendment embraces a portfolio of approaches to adaptively manage ecosystems in highly altered and changing landscapes, and strives to reestablish ecological processes in natural communities at a sufficient scale (and with connectivity, complexity, and diversity) to be resilient to land conversion and climate change. This digital poster will describe the collaborative science-driven process the Council used in developing the amendment, the draft currently under environmental review, and lessons for resource managers in other systems facing the challenge of planning ecosystem recovery amidst ongoing anthropogenic stressors and a rapidly changing climate.
Prospects and challenges in development of ground water resources of bangladesh Jahangir Alam
Prospects and Challenges in Development of Ground Water Resources of Bangladesh:
Groundwater is an important resource for livelihoods and the food security of billions of people, and especially in booming Asia’s agricultural economies. Globally, groundwater provides approximately 50% of current potable water supplies, 40% of the industrial water demand, and 20% of the water used for irrigation (UNESCO 2003).
The Groundwater Information Center, California (2003) reported that although surface water and groundwater appeared to be two distinct sources of water but in fact they are not. Surface water and groundwater are basically one singular source of water connected physically in the hydrologic cycle.
Therefore, Development of Ground Water Resources of Bangladesh is an important issue.
OBJECTIVES:
To know the current status of Groundwater in Bangladesh
To find out the challenges of Groundwater problem in Bangladesh
To know the adaptation against Challenges of Groundwater
Why groundwater is important:
Groundwater makes up nearly 30% of all the world’s freshwater; only 0.2% is found in lakes, streams or rivers and 70% is bound up in snow and ice on mountains and in the polar regions.
Groundwater plays a number of very important roles in our environment and in our economies. In the environment it supports rivers, lakes and wetlands, especially through drier months when there is little direct input from rainfall.
The flow of groundwater into rivers as seepage through the river bed, known as base flow, can be essential to the health of wildlife and plants that live in the water.
Groundwater also responds slowly to changes in rainfall, and so it stays available during the summer and during droughts when rivers and streams have dried up.
Groundwater doesn’t require expensive reservoirs to store water in before it is used.
Physical Context:
Bangladesh is located at the lowermost reaches of Ganges – Brahmaputra - Meghna river system which drains 1.72 million km2 of land. Crucially, Bangladesh itself comprises only 8% of the watershed.
Generally, four major physiographic units exist at the surface of Bangladesh. These are:
Tertiary sediments in the northern and eastern hills
Pleistocene Terraces in the Madhupur and Barind Tracts
Recent (Holocene) floodplains of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna rivers and
The Delta covering the rest of the country.
Most of the present land surface of the country covered by the Holocene flood plains deposited by the GBM river systems.
Recent presentation on assessing how U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hurricane Sandy Resilience projects will improve community and ecosystem resilience to sea level rise, storm events and other threats. Presentation highlights development of ecological and socio-economic metrics and provides project examples, marsh restoration, beach restoration, living shorelines and aquatic connectivity (dam removal) of metrics being used to evaluate project performance.
Conserving Biodiversity through an IWEco Approach in Caribbean SIDSiweco-project
An introduction to the UN Environment Programme Global Environment Facility-funded Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystem Management (IWEco) Project approach to Biodiversity Conservation in Caribbean Small Island Developing States, June 2020.
Strategic Action Program for the Bermejo River Binational Basin: Argentina- B...Iwl Pcu
A PowerPoint Presentation by Salvador Bahia on June 2005 during the GEF 3rd International Waters Conference. Topics discussed in the slide are the following:
(1) Overview of Bermejo River
(2) Environmental Problems Identifies in the Transboundary Analysis
(3) Causes of Environmental Problems
(4) Long Term Mitigation Strategy
(5) Short Term Mitigation Strategy
(6) Comprehensive Strategy
Wetlands in Bangladesh encompass a wide verity of dynamic ecosystems ranging from mangrove forest (about 577, 100 ha), natural lakes, man-made reservoir (Kaptai lake), freshwater marshes (about 400 haors), oxbow lakes (about 54488 ha, locally known as baors), freshwater depressions (about 1,000 beels), fish ponds and tanks (about 147, 000 ha), estuaries and seasonal inundated extensive floodplains (Akonda, 1989; cited in Akbar Ali Khan 1993 and DoF 1985).
Presented by IWMI's Priyanie Amerasinghe at a World Wetlands Day dialogue: 'Getting Wetland Research into Policy & Practice' held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February, 2, 2018
This presentation was delivered on the 10th of December 2018 in Vientiane by Peter-John Meynell at the MRC final stakeholder workshop as part of the Environmental Study of the Lancang-Mekong Development Plan (LMDP) project.
T7: SUSTAINABLE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF INTEGRATED ...FAO
SUSTAINABLE WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT, BY: A.ELMAJOUDI, Water, Soil Conservation and Forests Protection Division (HCEFLCD- MOROCCO), Land and Water Days in Near East & North Africa, 15-18 December 2013, Amman, Jordan
New efforts in planning for large scale ecosystem restoration in the Sacramen...Cory Copeland
The Delta Stewardship Council (Council) is responsible for promoting the coequal goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem that forms the upper portion of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. The Council is responsible for writing an enforceable Delta Plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh. After a multi-year development process that included extensive public engagement and scientific synthesis, the Council, in 2020, authorized initiation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) environmental review of its proposed amendment to the Delta Plan focused on ecosystem protection, restoration, and enhancement. The amendment consists of six new and revised ecosystem performance measures, an updated narrative which includes four new and revised policies and 14 recommendations, and seven technical and regulatory appendices. The amendment is novel in that it focuses on landscape-scale process-based restoration, acknowledges the many social benefits from ecosystem restoration, utilizes advanced technical climate change analyses informed by best available science, and employs more rigorous tracking of progress in meeting Delta Plan objectives. The amendment embraces a portfolio of approaches to adaptively manage ecosystems in highly altered and changing landscapes, and strives to reestablish ecological processes in natural communities at a sufficient scale (and with connectivity, complexity, and diversity) to be resilient to land conversion and climate change. This digital poster will describe the collaborative science-driven process the Council used in developing the amendment, the draft currently under environmental review, and lessons for resource managers in other systems facing the challenge of planning ecosystem recovery amidst ongoing anthropogenic stressors and a rapidly changing climate.
Prospects and challenges in development of ground water resources of bangladesh Jahangir Alam
Prospects and Challenges in Development of Ground Water Resources of Bangladesh:
Groundwater is an important resource for livelihoods and the food security of billions of people, and especially in booming Asia’s agricultural economies. Globally, groundwater provides approximately 50% of current potable water supplies, 40% of the industrial water demand, and 20% of the water used for irrigation (UNESCO 2003).
The Groundwater Information Center, California (2003) reported that although surface water and groundwater appeared to be two distinct sources of water but in fact they are not. Surface water and groundwater are basically one singular source of water connected physically in the hydrologic cycle.
Therefore, Development of Ground Water Resources of Bangladesh is an important issue.
OBJECTIVES:
To know the current status of Groundwater in Bangladesh
To find out the challenges of Groundwater problem in Bangladesh
To know the adaptation against Challenges of Groundwater
Why groundwater is important:
Groundwater makes up nearly 30% of all the world’s freshwater; only 0.2% is found in lakes, streams or rivers and 70% is bound up in snow and ice on mountains and in the polar regions.
Groundwater plays a number of very important roles in our environment and in our economies. In the environment it supports rivers, lakes and wetlands, especially through drier months when there is little direct input from rainfall.
The flow of groundwater into rivers as seepage through the river bed, known as base flow, can be essential to the health of wildlife and plants that live in the water.
Groundwater also responds slowly to changes in rainfall, and so it stays available during the summer and during droughts when rivers and streams have dried up.
Groundwater doesn’t require expensive reservoirs to store water in before it is used.
Physical Context:
Bangladesh is located at the lowermost reaches of Ganges – Brahmaputra - Meghna river system which drains 1.72 million km2 of land. Crucially, Bangladesh itself comprises only 8% of the watershed.
Generally, four major physiographic units exist at the surface of Bangladesh. These are:
Tertiary sediments in the northern and eastern hills
Pleistocene Terraces in the Madhupur and Barind Tracts
Recent (Holocene) floodplains of the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna rivers and
The Delta covering the rest of the country.
Most of the present land surface of the country covered by the Holocene flood plains deposited by the GBM river systems.
Recent presentation on assessing how U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Hurricane Sandy Resilience projects will improve community and ecosystem resilience to sea level rise, storm events and other threats. Presentation highlights development of ecological and socio-economic metrics and provides project examples, marsh restoration, beach restoration, living shorelines and aquatic connectivity (dam removal) of metrics being used to evaluate project performance.
Conserving Biodiversity through an IWEco Approach in Caribbean SIDSiweco-project
An introduction to the UN Environment Programme Global Environment Facility-funded Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystem Management (IWEco) Project approach to Biodiversity Conservation in Caribbean Small Island Developing States, June 2020.
Strategic Action Program for the Bermejo River Binational Basin: Argentina- B...Iwl Pcu
A PowerPoint Presentation by Salvador Bahia on June 2005 during the GEF 3rd International Waters Conference. Topics discussed in the slide are the following:
(1) Overview of Bermejo River
(2) Environmental Problems Identifies in the Transboundary Analysis
(3) Causes of Environmental Problems
(4) Long Term Mitigation Strategy
(5) Short Term Mitigation Strategy
(6) Comprehensive Strategy
Wetlands in Bangladesh encompass a wide verity of dynamic ecosystems ranging from mangrove forest (about 577, 100 ha), natural lakes, man-made reservoir (Kaptai lake), freshwater marshes (about 400 haors), oxbow lakes (about 54488 ha, locally known as baors), freshwater depressions (about 1,000 beels), fish ponds and tanks (about 147, 000 ha), estuaries and seasonal inundated extensive floodplains (Akonda, 1989; cited in Akbar Ali Khan 1993 and DoF 1985).
Presented by IWMI's Priyanie Amerasinghe at a World Wetlands Day dialogue: 'Getting Wetland Research into Policy & Practice' held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February, 2, 2018
The need for allocation and management occurs when the uses become rival and trade-offs emerge.
Fundamentally the concept of benefit sharing becomes a good idea when the strategically selected and placed investments planned at a basin level is more profitable than when done at a country level.
The Merguellil catchment (central Tunisia): towards an integrated study of w...Iwl Pcu
Christian Leduc, IRD, UMR G-EAU, Montpellier, France
Presentation given during the 5th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference in Cairns, Australia (during the pre-conference workshop for freshwater ecosystems, Global Changes and Water Resources Workshop).
SWaRMA_IRBM_Module1_#3, Upstream-Downstream linkages and Multi-scale IRBM, Sa...ICIMOD
This presentation is the part of 12-day (28 January–8 February 2019) training workshop on “Multi-scale Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) from the Hindu Kush Himalayan Perspective” organized by the Strengthening Water Resources Management in Afghanistan (SWaRMA) Initiative of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and targeted at participants from Afghanistan.
Global Water Challenges: River Basin Management Opportunities and Risks
A presentation by Don Blackmore
(The presentation has been modified from the original version to remove any copyrighted material)
Water Land and Ecosystems
High Level Dialogue New Delhi
3 May 2013
Global Water Challenges: River Basin Management Opportunities and Risks
A presentation by Don Blackmore
(The presentation has been modified from the original version to remove any copyrighted material)
Water Land and Ecosystems
High Level Dialogue New Delhi
3 May 2013
Trends in Social and Environmental Responsibility PresentationKlangpanya
The Mekong River is essential to the livelihoods of more than 260 million people in China and Southeast Asia and supports plentiful and varied ecosystems. However, Southeast Asia’s decades long period of economic growth has increased the demand on water and energy resources in the region. This has put the Mekong River on the spot as a primary water and hydropower source in the region. Consequent construction of dams and other interventions in the river’s ecosystem has led to physical changes in the Mekong River Basin over the last five to ten years. These Interventions in the river system has raised various concerns for policy makers and environmental conservationists alike. However, there is little agreement among experts and policy makers on the primary causes of these changes and the transboundary nature of the Mekong River complicates the search for sustainable solutions. This report aims to shed light on the impact of the changing Mekong River on Thailand and the intricate causes for its change through interviews with experts and locals in affected areas. Based on this analysis the report further makes recommendations for ways forward that ensure the inclusive and sustainable development of the Mekong River basin.
MAB-IHP Regional Symposium: Managing Water Resources in Biosphere Reserves in...UNESCO Venice Office
Michael Scoullos, Water resources management in Biosphere Reserves in Greece
Venice, 16-17 December 2021
Overall responsibility for the views and opinions expressed in the slides is taken by the authors
The importance of maintaining the ecological balance in tank cascade systemsDr. P.B.Dharmasena
Presentation made at the Short Course on Tanks Rehabilitation and Cascade Development organized by Centre for Environmental Studies, University of Peradeniya, 26-27-January, 2019, Sri Lanka
Similar to The Case of the Senegal River Basin (Niasse, Madiodio) (20)
Pecha Kucha format presentation about innovative tools being developed by the GEF-UNEP Flood and Drought Management Tools project, by Raul Glotzbach in the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference.
Pecha Kucha format presentation about innovative solutions being deployed by the Caribbean Wastewater Project (Revolving Fund) GEF-IADB/UNEP, by Alfredo Coelloin the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference.
Large Marine Ecosystems: Megaregional Best Practices for LME Assessment and M...Iwl Pcu
Workshop convened at GEF – IWC8
Negombo, Sri Lanka
May 9, 2016
Kenneth Sherman, NOAA
LME Program
Andrew Hudson, UNDP
Water and Ocean Governance Programme
Slides used during the science to communication workshop in the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference, to explain how to understand and communicate with an audience better when presenting.
Presentation by Chris O'Brien, of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (Bay of Bengal LME project) during the science to communication workshop in the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference. The presentations focuses on how to create effective powerpoint slides.
How to communicate science effectively (IWC8 Presentation)Iwl Pcu
Presentation by Professor Sevvandi Jajakody, of the Wayamba University(Bay of Bengal LME project) during the science to communication workshop in the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference.
Presentation by Chris O'Brien, of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (Bay of Bengal LME project) during the science to communication workshop in the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference.
Presentation by Peter Whalley, International Nitrogen Management System GEF- UNEP project providing an introduction to the nitrogen roundtable at the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters conference
Presentation by Hugh Walton of the GEF-UNDP Pacific Fisheries project 4746 at the 8th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference.
GEF Pillar 1.2 Promoting Transformational Change in Major Global Industries
Hugh Walton – Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
PRESENTATION OVERVIEW
Background - The FFA region
GEF OFMP – 2001 – 2004 & 2005 – 2011
Evaluation in the context of transformational change
OFMP 2 – 2015 – 2019 – Setting the stage for institutional change
TDA/SAP Methodology Training Course Module 2 Section 5
The Case of the Senegal River Basin (Niasse, Madiodio)
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
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
9.
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.