Document Type
Presentation
Publication Date
8-1-2014
Abstract
Manantali is a reservoir located in Mali, along the Senegal River, controlling about 50% of the total water flow of this river. Manantali is an annual reservoir, used to regulate the flow in the face of the extremely variable seasonal climate of the region. Manantali is mainly managed for agricultural and hydropower purposes, and its benefits are shared among Mali, Mauritania, and Senegal, the countries that participate to the project. The reservoir has been operative for about 10 years now, exceeding the planned capacity of hydroelectric production and irrigable land surface. The economic benefits due to the reservoir come at a price. Before the dam’s construction, the annual flood was the basis of flood recession agriculture, practiced traditionally by the local populations. Flood recession farming is based on natural irrigation and fertilization of the flood plain. Under the present management, flood recession agriculture is secondary to hydroelectric production and irrigation. These two objectives, in fact, require a more regular flow; therefore flow peaks are dumped in the reservoir. Annual floods are still produced, but they have been largely reduced. Moreover, the water authority are evaluating the construction of 6 more reservoirs, which will enhance even further the controllability of the river flow. In this study we explore the possible optimal compromises among the conflicting objectives of flood recession agriculture against hydroelectric production and irrigation. Moreover, we examine how a better use of hydrological information can improve the present reservoir management, in order to find a win-win solution.
Comments
Session S8-01, Flood Control through Use of Water Reservoirs I