IAHS2022-242
https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-242
IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Impact of climate change and land-use/land cover changes on the Dam management in the Senegal River basin

Jean Albergel2, Mame Henriette Astou Sambou1, Wilfrid Vissin3, Stefan Liersch4, Zoltan Szantoi5, Landing Sane6, and Soussou Sambou7
Jean Albergel et al.
  • 1West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use, FAST/UAC, Cotonou, Benin
  • 2Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Environnement & ressources, MONTPELLIER, France (jean.albergel@ird.fr)
  • 3Laboratoire Pierre Pagney : Climat, Eau, Ecosystème et Développement (LACEEDE) Université d'Abomey-Calavi, Benin
  • 4Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), RD2 Hydroclimatic Risks, Member of the Leibniz Association, P.O. Box 60 12 03, D-14412 Potsdam, Germany
  • 5European Space Agency Stellenbosch University, South Africa
  • 6Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Department of Physics, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
  • 7Faculty of Sciences and Technology, Department of Physics, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal

This abstract the first results of a Phd ongoing work on the impact of climate change and land use land cover on the hydrological dams in a large, transboundary, West-African watershed: The Senegal River Watershed.

Freshwater - a fragile resource - is essential for life, development, and the environment. Flowing through Guinea, Mali, Senegal and Mauritania, the Senegal River (fig 1) is a strategic water resource for the West-Africa region and riparian countries development. The Senegal River's water management in time and space is possible thanks to the existing and planned hydroelectric dams built along the river. These water developments aim to meet the growing water, food and energy needs of the member states (Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Mauritania). Access to energy and food security will be a significant challenge in the future due to population growth and climate change. In the coming decades, climate change and changes in land use and land cover will further increase the constraints on the already scarce water resources in the Sudano-Sahelian zone of West Africa.

This study is part of the Nexus "Climate change, LULC change, Water, Energy" in the Senegal River basin. The objective is to assess the impact of climate change and land use/land cover on water resources in the upper Senegal River basin and associated socio-economic activities (energy, agriculture, flood support, flood control) for the time horizon 2050. This study aims to develop simulations of streamflow and water storage under assumptions of LULC and climate change for integrated management of dams in a multiple-use context.

Our methodology is based on A multi-model approach including a climate model, a land use/land cover forecasting model (land change modeler) for modelling and elaborating future land use/land cover maps (2050) based on past trends (1986, 2006 and 2020) of LULC map, a hydrological model (Swim) for modelling runoff and projecting flows to 2050, and a reservoir management model (Simulsen) for simulating dam management.

In this presentation or poster, we will present the elaboration of future LULC maps based on past trends and the reanalyzes of climatic data.

How to cite: Albergel, J., Sambou, M. H. A., Vissin, W., Liersch, S., Szantoi, Z., Sane, L., and Sambou, S.: Impact of climate change and land-use/land cover changes on the Dam management in the Senegal River basin, IAHS-AISH Scientific Assembly 2022, Montpellier, France, 29 May–3 Jun 2022, IAHS2022-242, https://doi.org/10.5194/iahs2022-242, 2022.