Water Control, Impacts and Sub-Regional Cooperation Around a Transboundary Hydrological System - The Case of the Kayanga/Geba Catchment Area: (Guinea, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau)

Abstract

The Kayanga/Geba river basin is a transboundary basin shared between Guinea, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. It concentrates important natural resources, notably water resources on which Senegal and Guinea-Bissau are particularly dependent. The drastic reduction of these water resources due to rainfall variability and climate change has had an impact on agricultural production in the basin; hence the hydro-agricultural developments, in Senegalese territory, boost socio-economic activities by increasing productivity in both the rainy and dry seasons. The negative effects of these developments go beyond administrative boundaries. The transboundary management of this basin is a real challenge because the dams built in Senegal do not have the legal status of common dams of the OMVG whose mission is to promote cooperation between its member states. This article first analyses water control and some of the negative impacts of hydro-agricultural developments, and then the cooperation initiatives that the OMVG is trying to implement for rational and harmonious exploitation of the common resources of this basin.

1. Introduction

The catchment area becomes transboundary when it extends between two or more countries [1]. In addition to being numerous in West Africa, transboundary watersheds are often the primary water resources of the countries that border them [2]. The transboundary situation of these basins causes a fundamental problem when considering the management of shared natural resources. In many cases, an ecosystem divided by a political-administrative boundary is managed in a fragmented and sometimes contradictory way by the states that share it. This is due to the fact that sometimes states have different political priorities and environmental regulations [3].

At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, recurrent dry spells and climate change severely impacted agricultural production in the Kayanga/Geba basin, where the essential part of the population’s income traditionally comes from rainfed crops in the uplands and rice cultivation in the lowlands, in addition to the livestock. To overcome this problem, the state of Senegal has adopted policies for the development and management of water resources in order to improve water management, boost socio-economic activities by increasing agricultural productivity, both in the rainy season and in the off-season, and promote local development [4, 5]. This is how the Agricultural and Industrial Development Company of Senegal (SODAGRI in French) created in 1974, was entrusted with the management of the three phases of the development of the Anambe basin, the central part of which is a vast flood basin of almost 16,000 ha [6]. The Anambe is the main tributary of the Kayanga/Geba in Senegal. The developments are for hydro-agricultural and pastoral purposes with integration of agriculture, livestock, and continental fishing. In total, two dams have been built for this purpose in addition to the one set up by the Local Small Scale Irrigation Support Project (PAPIL in French).

In Guinea-Bissau, no hydro-agricultural development has been carried out. The Kayanga/Geba and Koliba/Corubal rivers are the main source of surface water in this country. It shares the Koliba/Corubal with Guinea. The other rivers are deeply penetrated by the tide.

The developments in the Senegalese part of the basin may run counter to the benefits that can be derived from harmonious use of water resources and cooperative management at the scale of the hydrological system. Because managing at this scale means ultimately taking advantage of the comparative advantages of each part of the hydrological system and respecting its total productive capacity [2]. This article aims to analyse water control and transboundary cooperation around the Kayanga/Geba river basin. It is a modest contribution to the analysis of the challenges of transboundary basin management in West Africa.

2. Presentation of the Kayanga/Geba catchment area

The Kayanga/Geba watershed is a transboundary basin (Figure 1) shared by Guinea (1.3% of the total area), Senegal (34.3%) and Guinea-Bissau (64.4%) [7, 8]. The river has its source in the western part of the Badiar Plateau (Guinea), in swamps, at an altitude of about 90 m. It flows northwest for about 10 km, passes through Senegal as it flows west and then southwest, enters Guinea-Bissau after a course of about 150 km and takes the name Rio Geba [9]. The South Sudanese climate is characterised by a rainy season from May to October and a dry season for the rest of the year. The latitudinal configuration of the basin shows rainfall contrasts with an average annual rainfall of about 1000 mm in the north and 1500 mm in the south. Average monthly temperatures range from 23.7°C in December to 31.7°C in May. The average monthly temperature ranges from 23.7°C in December to 31.7°C in May at the Kolda station. In this basin, agriculture remains the main activity and source of income for the predominantly rural population. The other socio-economic activities such as the livestock, the continental fishing, the arboriculture, the market gardening and the trade are also developed there. However, they are submitted to hydro-rainfall variations [7]. The total population of the basin is estimated at 760,000 residents, of which 0.4% live in Guinea, 41.8% in Senegal and 57.8% in Guinea-Bissau (Table 1) [10].

Figure 1.

Location of the Kayanga/Geba River watershed [7].

Basin	Countries sharing the basin	Area (km^2)	Population of the basin	% of the basin by country	% of the population by country
Kayanga/Geba	Guinea	12,440	760,000	1.3	0.4
	Senegal			34.3	41.8
	Guinea-Bissau			64.4	57.8

Table 1.

Distribution of the basin population by country.

3. Water control in the basin

Water control generally involves the construction of dams, if necessary, which make it possible to compensate for the irregularity of seasonal or interannual water supplies by accumulating reserves. Dams are artificial structures built across the bed of a river to retain water or provide an artificial reservoir [11]. Thus, the benefits of an agricultural dam will be felt very gradually, as cultivation processes evolve, which we know are slow [12].

During the first phase of the development of the Anambe basin (Senegal), the Confluent dam-reservoir was built 300 m downstream from the Kayanga/Geba and the Anambe confluence. With a storage capacity of 59 million cubic meters, it was built in 1984 and diverts the flow of the river to fill the Anambe basin and irrigate 1365 ha [13]. In the non-rainy season, the water is blocked by the Kounkane weir. After more than a decade of exploitation, it was found that the additional water provided by this dam was not sufficient to achieve the objective of double cropping, due to rainfall deficits, coupled with significant water leakage downstream of the system, estimated at more than 50% of the runoff. These water leaks resulting from errors in the construction of the dam (defective retaining dyke), considerably reduce the possibilities of storing water [14]. It is in this context that the second phase was started with the construction of the Niandouba dam-reservoir in 1997, in addition to the development of new perimeters covering an area of 2805 ha. Located 10 km upstream of the Confluence reservoir, with a storage capacity of 85 million cubic metres, it provides a backup to this buffer reservoir. The main objectives are: to store water during the rainy season in order to provide the necessary complement to secure off-season crops in the Anambe basin; to allow the development of continental fishing in the reservoir in all seasons; and to contribute to the recharging of the underground water for human and animal water supply. This has resulted in improved hydrological conditions with over 100 million cubic metres of water available, allowing for relative water control in the Anambe-Kayanga/Geba system [13].

In 2012, PAPIL built the Velingara-Pakane dam-reservoir upstream of the Niandouba dam-reservoir to irrigate areas on the right bank of the river. The storage capacity is 1.5 million cubic metres.

Despite these dams, water control in this part of the basin is low, because development and production objectives have not yet been achieved due to, firstly, the rainfall deficit and, secondly, the production factors. However, a new dam project is envisaged at the confluence of the Niokolo-Koba and Koulountou rivers, tributaries of the Gambia River. It is expected to divert water from these tributaries, via a connecting channel, to reinforce existing reservoirs in order to expand the area cultivated and increase the production [15].

In Guinea-Bissau, on the contrary, there is no water control proper, because no hydro-agricultural development has been carried out, even though the country has a very old rice-growing tradition that is highly dependent on rainfall. According to STUDI International [10], rice production in mangrove and lowland areas is facilitated by the provision of salt dikes and water reservoirs. In the non-rainy season, small areas are irrigated from the river using motor pumps placed along the riverbanks. But irrigated agriculture is still in its embryonic stage. Enormous potential in developable lowlands has so far been little used for rice cultivation [16]. Today, despite the low level of development of the agricultural potential, the agricultural activities developed on the riverbanks are affected by the difficult climatic conditions combined with the hydraulic dams built in the Senegalese part of the basin. The difficulties in supplying drinking water to households are noted, and the strong degradation of ecosystems and the rise of the salt tongue are severely felt by the local populations [17].

4. Some impacts of developments in the catchment area

Since water is an economic good [18, 19], dams have contributed significantly to socio-economic development through their benefits as long as they are technically, economically and financially feasible [20]. It is a given [21] that dam development at the national and regional scale is the main factor of economic development, while basins with dams have an increased economic activity by 25% over those that have no dams [22]. In [23], it is seen that reservoir construction, groundwater exploitation and cropland irrigation are prime optimization instruments for water resource utilisation with particular success in Africa where dam construction balanced out water shortage.

However, the general picture of population increase for the three countries is as below (Base year 2022).

As dams are connected with social development, which includes population [25, 26]. Table 2 shows that existing dam utilisation in these countries will come under rapidly increasing pressure. According to the World Bank Report [27], Senegal is classified as water-stressed country, as despite the fact that resources are plentiful there is high annual variability [28] with extreme precipitation [29] occurrences [30] and projections for 2035 show a withdrawal increase of 30−60%, the upper limit correlated with population increase. In the case of Guinea-Bissau, water resources are under pressure [31] from changing and variable climate, abstraction, the methodology for the disposal of wastewater and urbanisation rate while water stock depletion and water resource pollution are seen as being the major threats. Threats in Guinea are seen to materialise at the end of the century [32] where rainfall will be reduced by 26% in the Fouta Djallon Highlands, and the Konkouré River may see its flow reduced up to 50% while the Milo by up to 70%.

	Guinea-Bissau	Guinea	Senegal
2030	+19%	+23%	+22%
2040	+45%	+54%	+53%
2050	+72%	+87%	+88%
2100	+177%	+226%	+260%

Table 2.

Population increase in Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Senegal [24].

Although they are essential for development, dams must satisfy additional requirements, those of environmental, political, institutional and social acceptance [33]. Before dam construction resettlement costs and methodology play an important role as seen in [34] where a four-step method is described; and in a study of the Narmada Valley in India where cost-benefit analysis was applied including the assessment of the costs of displaced people [35]. Dams, ‘the most cataclysmic event in the life of a riverine ecosystem’ [36], have environmental impact on water quality [37] which include the release of excessive sediment, eutrophication leading to anoxic conditions at the bottom [38] that reduces sulphate to acidic hydrogen [39], flooded [40] and pre-impoundment reduction of biomass which usually is burned, evaporation induced salt built-up [41] plus salt carried over by the rain due to proximity to an ocean [42]. As seen in [43], biophysical systems are impacted by dams primarily via the hydrograph change and river system fragmentation [44]. This leads [45] to changes in both sediment load and the morphology of the riverbed, as seen in [46] to the riparian areas’ species composition and to aquatic biota in terms of both health and viability [47]. This is what the now extinct WCD [21] called double-edged developments. In this paper, only negative impacts affecting all or part of the basin are considered.

From a hydrological point of view, the study of flows at the Wassadou and Sonaco downstream hydrometric stations showed a considerable decrease in flows which partly reflects the variability of rainfall [4]. River flow [48, 49] is one of the most determining factors of riverine ecosystems as seen in [50]. Regarding the effects of dams on flows, they alter flow quantity as well as water quality, and in terms of specific flow events, they impact all their main variables i.e., their change rate, seasonal timing as well as magnitude and duration [51, 52]. Moreover, the ecological instream flow is not respected despite the fact that it is very important [53] and according to Ennesser [54], there is, in fact, no instream flow. The analysis of the hydraulic distance separating the stations of the reservoir dams, using indices formulated by Payan [55], made it possible to deduce that the Confluent dam, the most downstream, is close to the Wassadou station. In other words, the surface of the intermediate zone acts more on the transfer of the flow than on the generation of flows. Thus, the flows are reduced by the dam. Figure 2, taken in the immediate surroundings of the Confluent dam, shows the small flow of water escaping from the structure. The lateritic track (red arrow) crossing the river just downstream of this dam is a shortcut to Pakour in the dry season. The stone in the middle makes it easier for pedestrians and people on bicycles to cross. In the rainy season, on the contrary, it is impracticable because of the significant flows that pass through the dam and possibly the spillway in case of spillage. At the Sonaco downstream station, there is a considerable distance between the reservoir and this station. The surface area of the intermediate zone being large, it is very likely that the phenomena linked to the generation of flows (lateral contributions, exchange with the aquifer, the contribution of rainfall on the intermediate zone, etc.) significantly support the flow [4]. A good monitoring of the hydrometric network and an in-depth analysis will make it possible to confirm or disconfirm the impact of the reservoirs on the flows downstream.

Figure 2.

Weak flow downstream of the Confluence dam, June 2013 [4].

Moreover, on several occasions, the Guinea-Bissau authorities have complained to their Senegalese counterparts, and then to the OMVG, about the low quantities of water that arrive downstream because of the upstream reservoirs. Already in 1993 [56], before the put-in water of the Niandouba dam-reservoir in 1997, the French Society of Studies and Consultancy (SOFRECO in French), in the study of the Master Plan for the integrated management and development of the Kayanga/Geba and Koliba/Corubal river basins, pointed out that the river behaves like a lake downstream from the Sonaco Downstream station. From this station, a few dozen kilometres away, the riverbed is without water until the village of Fasse, where water is only found in the form of a lake. This situation is verified as far as the village of Sincha-Kagna. The little amount of water you see in these places comes from the aquifer that is outcropping.

From an ecosystem point of view, the vegetation formations of the Anambe watershed have disappeared, giving way to a mono-specific vegetation (rice cultivation). The pastoral space around the developed perimeters is reduced, in addition to the difficulty of access to certain water points by livestock. Unlike the Confluence reservoir, in the Niandouba reservoir, the standing timber was not fully recovered before the put-in water. Also, some plant species inside the reservoir have died of asphyxiation due to permanent submersion (Figure 3). These dead feet still present in the reservoir constitute an obstacle to fishing activity and are an integral part of the main objectives [4].

Figure 3.

Asphyxiated vegetation upstream of the Niandouba dam, June 2013 [4].

In some parts of the basin, there is a proliferation of invasive aquatic plants, such as Nymphea spp., Salvinia molesta, Typha australis and other unidentified species, linked to the lentic character of the waters. This proliferation will induce a modification of the environmental conditions: the formation of sandbanks caused by the root system and reduction of the oxygen available in the water. According to STUDI International [10], aquatic plants constitute microcosms where many vectors of waterborne diseases (bilharzia, filariasis, malaria, and onchocerciasis) live and feed.

Also, the decrease of the flow speed in the downstream part of the basin (Guinea-Bissau) has the effect of creating favourable conditions for sand deposits in the major river bed [17], as illustrated in Figure 4. The penetration of the tide over a length of more than 150 kilometres inland and the rising of the salty surface water are the cause of the salinisation of several rice fields in Guinea-Bissau [17].

Figure 4.

Silting in the major bed of the Kayanga/Geba River downstream [17].

The developments have caused an increase in conflicts related to access to water. The most frequent ones are related to livestock wandering, particularly in the developed areas. Indeed, in these perimeters, which more or less form a belt, there is no provision for grazing in accordance with the requirements of pastoralism [57] for livestock access to the confluence reservoir. In the dry season, when the water points dry up, herders are forced to make tracks through the irrigated areas to give their herds water. The ensuing conflicts may be reported to the gendarmerie or, more often, settled out of court. However, since the arrival of farmers from the groundnut basin of Senegal, relations with the breeders have become more strained, and complaints to the gendarmerie and impoundments have increased [57].

Land conflicts are most often between indigenous and non-indigenous people. The latter is considered by the natives as privileged competitors of SODAGRI, which was in charge of the exclusive distribution of developed plots. Between 2005 and 2009, due to the resurgence of conflicts, a forum on land management enabled the municipal councils to regain their prerogatives and to take charge of the allocation and decommissioning of developed plots of land under the approval of the Sub-Prefect and the technical assistance of SODAGRI [58].

In 2018, a conflict opposed the inhabitants of villages along the river in the commune of Pakour to a private promoter. At the origin of this conflict, the municipal council granted 1000 ha to the promoter for the establishment of a banana plantation. After about 10 hectares were cleared, the inhabitants of these villages mobilised to demonstrate their refusal. The establishment of this banana plantation would prevent a tenth of villages from accessing the river; their only source of life (fishing to meet their needs, market gardening, rice growing, and watering places for their cattle) and the loss of their production fields.¹ The event resulted in the arrest of 10 young people from the commune who were held in custody, referred to the prosecutor’s office in Kolda and finally tried and sentenced to 2 months in prison.²

From a health point of view, the stagnant water has created conditions favourable to the development of numerous pathologies that affect the populations living in the Anambe basin. According to CSE [59], there are water-related vector diseases (malaria, onchocerciasis), water-borne diseases (diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid fever) and water-borne diseases (urinary or intestinal bilharzia). Malaria is the primary reason for consultation in all health posts, both during the rainy and dry seasons. Urinary bilharzia is increasingly becoming a serious concern with cases detected in Kounkane, Wassadou and Medina Dianguette [59]. The cases of diarrhoeal diseases (dysentery and diarrhoea) detected in Kounkane over the period 2004−2009 include 801 cases in 2004, 993 in 2005, 1132 in 2008 and 1087 in 2009. This upward trend is observed at the Sare Coly Salle and Diaobe health posts. Dermatoses were diagnosed at the Kounkane health post, rising from 95 cases in 2004 to 125 in 2009, with a peak of 163 in 2007 [57].

The use of fertilisers and plant protection products in the irrigated areas of the Anambe zone risks polluting surface and groundwater in the long term. Indeed, the water taken from the Lake Waima in the Anambe basin for the irrigation of the perimeters is returned directly to it via the drainage channels, without any treatment. This constitutes a closed circuit as illustrated in Figure 5. However, a study carried out by the CSE over the period 2004−2008 showed that, from a physicochemical point of view, surface water is poorly mineralised, given the chemical parameters measured, the levels of which are below the usual standards [57]. Therefore, the analyses do not reveal any pollution likely to alter the quality and suitability of the water. Concerning groundwater, nitrate levels that were limiting the probability of occurrence have increased significantly with a maximum value of 130.94 mg.1-1 in June 2008. The traditional wells most affected by the presence of nitrates are in the villages of Maoude (130.94 mg.1-1), Dialakegny (97.57 mg.1-1), Kandia (62.43 mg.1-1) and Sare Koutayel (58.94 mg.1-1) [57]. These excessive concentrations constitute risks for the populations that use the water from these wells without any pre-treatment. Also, the populations of the bordering villages complain about the resurgence of intoxications that affect them and their livestock [57, 60].

Figure 5.

Circuit schema of the irrigation water in Lake Waima (inspired by SODAGRI).

5. Sub-regional cooperation initiatives and limitations

The first cooperation initiatives were set up with the creation of the Organisation for the Development of the Gambia River (OMVG in French) by Senegal and the Gambia on 30 June 1978 in Kaolack. It is the successor to the coordinating committee for the development of the Gambia River Basin [61]. Its mission was to valorise the resources of the Gambia River. In 1981, it was enlarged with the adhesion of Guinea and in 1983, it was the turn of Guinea-Bissau. In February 1987 (Resolution No. 14 of the Conference of Heads of State), the territory covered by the OMVG was extended to the south to include the catchment areas of the Kayanga/Geba and the Koliba/Corubal, two rivers that have a common embouchure in Guinea-Bissau. Thus, the OMVG has become a sub-regional organisation comprising the four member states mentioned above, which speak three languages (French, English and Portuguese). From now on, its mission is to promote and undertake studies and development work in the three basins [62]. The specific objectives are the development of agriculture (fight against poverty in a context of sustainable development), the production of hydroelectric energy (potential energy to be developed estimated between 230 and 250 MW), the protection of the environment, the control of salinity in areas influenced by the tide, the improvement of existing waterways, the settlement of populations and the reduction of rural exodus, through programmes and projects common to the four countries. The organisation has organs such as the Conference of Heads of State and Government, the Council of Ministers, the Executive Secretariat, the Permanent Water Commission and the Advisory Committee (States and funders) [63].

The member states are linked by four basic conventions: the convention relating to the status of rivers (no project likely to modify in a significant way the natural characteristics can be carried out without having been, as a preliminary, approved by the contracting States); the convention relating to the creation of the OMVG (defining the objectives, the attributions, the competences and the mode of functioning of the Organisation); the convention relating to the legal status of the common works (defining with precision the conditions of execution and exploitation of any work of common interest as well as the reciprocal obligations of the Member States); and the convention relating to the modalities of the financing of the common dams. They are largely consistent with the policy recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (CMB in French). It recommends that national water policies explicitly incorporate mechanisms for negotiation with other states affected by dam construction according to the principles of equitable and reasonable use, damage prevention and advance information [56].

In the case of the Kayanga/Geba basin, the first cooperation project (Table 3) concerns Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). The objective is to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the riparian populations and to the socio-economic development of the countries of the basin, in particular by: (i) improving knowledge of the resources and the rate of satisfaction of the demand for water for various uses; (ii) setting up a consultation platform for the harmonious management of water resources; (iii) building capacities for a better knowledge of the resources of the basin and (iv) increasing agricultural production. The project has created a favourable institutional and technical environment to organise integrated management and to foster the development of cooperation between the different users.

Project	Source of funding	General description of the project	Component	Scale
Integrated Water Resources Management Project in the Kayanga/Geba River Basin	African Water Facility OMGV Member States	This project focuses on improving knowledge of the resources of the Kayanga/Geba and setting up basic tools for integrated and concerted transboundary management of water resources in order to enable the riparian populations to live in harmony with their environment and to ensure sustainable development	Elaboration of the IWRM Plan in the river basin	Transboundary
			Preparation of studies for the hydro-agricultural exploitation of the Kayanga/Geba water resources in Guinea Bissau
			Capacity building of OMVG and its member states in technical and institutional terms
			Managing the implementation of the project

Table 3.

Transboundary cooperation project in the Kayanga/Geba river basin.

It is important to note that long before this common project, there were hydro-agricultural developments in the Kayanga/Geba-Anambe system on Senegalese territory, which anterior the entry in the vigour of the Convention on the International Status of the Kayanga/Geba River, but post-date, the international treaties and agreements on shared basins. Indeed, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses is an international instrument that focuses on shared water resources, with two key principles: equitable and reasonable use and the obligation not to cause significant damage [64]. The Confluence and Niandouba hydraulic dams built on the main course of the river and financed by Senegalese public funds with the support of funders, do not have the status of OMVG common dam, as they have been carried by Senegal until now. However, in their operational phase, they may require reciprocal obligations, notably on the conditions and modalities of management of the mobilised water resources. These dams are therefore not covered by this special convention. But if for any reason, the management of these dams should 1 day revert to the OMVG, this would be done by mutual agreement and after negotiations [57]. The water governance issues are not yet taken into account, and OMVG has for the time being no authority over the dams managed by SODAGRI. It does not control the number of releases planned in the dry season, nor the exact quantity of water that transits from the dams to Guinea-Bissau (downstream of the basin). According to the authorities of this country, the reduction in runoff is due to dams, a conflict that has become latent between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau [57]. The Velingara-Pakane dam, built in 2012 and financed by the African Development Fund, does not have the status of an OMVG common dam either, despite the entry in vigour of the convention [4]. This can be a major limitation for good transboundary cooperation.

In addition, the OMVG Executive Secretariat organised several field visits between 1989 and 2007, in which representatives of the two main states (Senegal, Guinea-Bissau) participated, to learn about dam management programmes and to observe the state of the river downstream of the water reservoirs. These visits made it possible to discuss the real causes of the drying up and to make recommendations for improving the water conditions of the river downstream of the dams. For its part, the OMVG believes that the problem should be solved at the end of the “Integrated Water Resources Management Project in the Kayanga/Geba river basin” [57]. So far, no concrete action has been taken. In Senegal, efforts are focused on immediate national concerns, without regard to regional benefits and ecological impacts, because the way dams are managed has not changed much.

6. Conclusion

The decrease of water resources linked to the dry spells of the 1960s and 1970s and climate change has impacted on socio-economic activities in the Kayanga/Geba basin, shared between Guinea, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. This situation has incited the multiplication of hydro-agricultural dam projects in the Senegalese part of the basin, with the building of the Confluent, Niandouba and Velingara-Pakane dams, to increase agricultural production and fight against poverty. These dams have increased the pressure on water resources and raised the level of water withdrawals, hence the numerous complaints from the Guinea-Bissau authorities to their Senegalese counterparts and to the OMVG. These complaints relate to the low quantities of water that arrive downstream, especially in the dry season, due to the dams, a conflict that has become latent between the two countries. Nevertheless, many studies have shown that historically few tensions and disputes over water have led to open armed conflict [65, 66, 67, 68]. The relations between countries bordering an international river may be tense, the disputes may arise, but in general, these countries almost always find a formula for cooperation rather than open confrontation [66, 68].

The OMVG as a basin organisation is trying to create a favourable environment to develop a common will to exploit and share the basin’s potential together, with the implementation of common development projects such as the Integrated Water Resources Management project of the Kayanga/Geba river basin. But its mission in this basin is not easy because the dams do not have the status of common structures and it does not yet have a say in their management. Like the other basin organisations such as OMVS,³ ABN⁴ and CBLT,⁵ it will have to demonstrate a great capacity for anticipation and adaptation in the face of the many changes that are on the horizon [69], in particular, the planned dam project at the confluence of the Niokolo-Koba and Koulountou rivers to strengthen the existing dams. The relevant suggestions made by [70] can help to prevent the risk of conflict and to manage it appropriately when it occurs.