Water resources development in the lower Senegal River basin: Conflicting interests, environmental concerns and policy options

The Senegal River is the lifeline of the westernmost part of the sahelian zone in Africa. This zone has extreme problems with high population growth, rapid and uncontrolled urbanization, climate changes, widespread poverty, growing inequity, ethnic confrontations and stagnant economic development. This paper analyses the management system of Lac de Guiers-one of the largest lakes in West Africa-which is among the Senegal River's key management entities. A Bayesian network model is used to study the conflicting interests among the various stakeholders, the environmental and social concerns in the region and the viability of a series of policy options for water resources development.