Approval Date
AFW/AfDB: 2 July 2010
FFEM: 26 November 2011
Project Start Date
AFW/AfDB: 14 March 2011
FFEM: 26 November 2011
Project closure
30 June 2018
Project Duration
6 years and a half
Financial & Technical Partners
African Water Facility
Le Fonds français pour l’environnement mondial
Country of operations
Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria
Main Beneficiaries
Governmental structures in charge of water resources in the seven beneficiary countries and regional authorities in charge of the basin management (notably the Niger Basin Authority) and the Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS).
Objective
The GICRESAIT project aims to strengthen the capacities of the project countries in managing their shared transboundary water resources. It also evaluates the potential and enhances the monitoring of the groundwater resources of the Iullemeden Aquifer System (IAS) and Taoudeni / Tanezrouft (TAS) Aquifer Systems and their vulnerability to climate change.
Project Status
Completed
Expected Outcomes
- The groundwater resources of the Iullemeden - Taoudeni/Tanezrouft Aquifer Systems are evaluated and standardized data are produced at the national level
- The water resources of the Iullemeden - Taoudeni/Tanezrouft Aquifer Systems are jointly managed by the countries and regional organizations concerned
- The countries capacity in managing the transboundary aquifers is strengthened
Achievements
- Knowledge improvement : The Taoudeni/Tanezrouft and Iullemeden Aquifer Systems constitute together a single hydraulic set
- Renewable water potential estimated at 19 billion m3/year
- Niger River– Aquifer Systems Interaction: UPSTREAM (Taoudeni Basin): the Niger River feeds the Aquifer Systems with more than 1.5 billion m3/year. DOWNSTREAM (Iullemeden Basin), the Aquifer Systems feed the Niger River with more than 3,3 billion m3/year.
- Vulnerability of groundwaters to Climate Change: more than 80% of the Aquifer Systems are very little to little vulnerable to the decrease of piezometric levels
- Vulnerability of groundwaters to human activities: groundwaters are in general of good quality. The areas with high risk of pollution are located south the basin where the population density is high and the aquifer level is low.
- More than 70 engineers trained in management tools (Database, Geographic Information System, Remote sensing, hydro-geologic modeling, water management models)
- National institutions equipped with computers and GIS softwares (Q-GIS), WEAP management model
- Website and Geoportal:
- Project website http://www.oss-online.org/gicresait/,
- Geoportal: http://prod.oss-intra.org:8080/gicresait-geoportal/srv/fre/main.home.
- Establishment of a Consultation Framework: a first step towards a common management between the riparian States
- Promotional and Institutional Products: documentary film; 4 outreach documents; 3 technical documents; 4 vulnerability maps.
