The Manantali Dam

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3) The Manantali Dam, despite an onslaught of criticism and injurious ramifications, is not going anywhere.

Negative impacts of the Manantali tend to outweigh the benefits in most investigative studies regarding both human and ecological well¬

being. Aside from the fact that very little energy is actually produced by the dam, most of which supplies OMVS capital cities, and aside from the fact that the Senegal River is still today unfit for any navigational use, the Manantali dam has also caused mass community displacement,

deforestation, groundwater and fishing depletion, rise in water-cultivated diseases, and discontinuation of sustainable agricultural practices. All of these problems affect the downstream Fuuta Tooro region.

At the actual Manantali site in Mali, some 12,000 Malinke citizens were forced out to make way for the reservoir. Downstream in the Fuuta, tracking relocation proves more difficult, due the number of

contributing causes, such as the political battles (incorporating

Mauritanian genocide) over agriculture discussed earlier; the irrigated land reformations in Mauritania and the depleting water levels in the river were both due to the Manantali dam and created over 170,000 refugees. But there are also less political causes for relocation.

Damming a river “regulates” floodwaters and in doing so

suppresses the seasonal cycle, disrupting and depleting groundwater

aquifers, endangering downstream forests. The most prevalent tree species, acacia nilotica, used for firewood, charcoal, construction, and grazing, depends on these affected aquifers, which are now diminishing. There is added concern that if Mauritanian refugees relocated to the

Senegal bank of the Fuuta Tooro become too concentrated in areas or if care is not continually taken to ensure provisions of woodland resources, increased demand could exacerbate deforestation problems. Like the native trees, many fish populations are also dependent on natural

fluctuations and sedimentary composition of ground water and

floodwaters; their numbers have also greatly reduced. Changing

salinization levels and flow rates permitted the invasion of certain water plants, such as Sylvinia molesta and Pistia stratiotes, further disturbing ecological stability, specifically fish reproduction, consequently harming village-scale fishing practices. These changing riverbank conditions have nurtured conditions for malaria and schistosomiasis vectors,

drastically raising disease rates among riverine communities. Nutrition is another health issue. It is no secret that OMVS plans to switch natural flood-recession agricultural practices to irrigation reliance permanently. Not only does the irrigation crop, rice, have lower nutritional value than traditional sorghum and millet used in flood recession fields, but

irrigation also increases soil depletion, requires high capitol investment unaffordable for many villagers, and limits individual control and

management of villagers in their food production. Irrigation does

produce high crop yields more consistently, but flood recession agriculture is still an important supplementary food source (and primary for many villagers and communities) in the Fuuta Tooro. OMVS also does not hide prioritizing hydroelectric production of the Manantali reservoir, requiring constant flow through the turbines and discouraging supplying water for flood recession purposes. Even when the reservoir is full enough to provide for both purposes, the dam managers do not supply adequate floods for traditional farming downstream. Dam management also fails to decrease flood risk, as unwanted floods continue and the potential for flood disaster remains. Flood risk is exacerbated by the reputation of OMVS for failing to notify river valley residents of any water resource or flood conditions.

Life in the Fuuta Tooro has never been easy; indeed the natural

climate variability and flood patterns are fairly disobliging for sustainable living, and CCV projections heighten this situation. The installment of the Manantali has hardly fixed any of these climatic challenges, and with the exception of a case made for irrigated agriculture, has actually made water struggles in the Fuuta Tooro more challenging. “This wholly human-wrought environment can be considered as a learning experience”, as increasing Fuuta Tooro residents are forced to relocate due to damaged habitat conditions that can no longer sustain their livelihood.

IV. Summary

It is clear that Senegal and Mauritania face considerable obstacles toward effective, humane water resource management, and that this weighs heavily on the Fuuta Tooro communities who rely on safe, affordable, and reliable access to water and water-affected resources. Fuuta Tooro residents must cope with increasingly stressful climate. Conditions, ever-present political tension, and damaging impacts of costly river dams that continually threaten local well being. The strength and endurance exhibited by the Pulaar community in the Fuuta Tooro are nothing short of admirable. Sociopolitical interference and

unaccommodating environment aside, Pulaar population and culture have persevered through nomadic and sedentary lifestyles. The term water crisis is used frequently today for water-stressed regions that are vulnerable to climate change, like the Fuuta Tooro. Yet this term seems somewhat unfitting for a region whose very existence is defined by arid conditions. It is rather the potential for sociopolitical stressors, such as the anthropogenic forces of climate change and an ill-managed river dam, which manipulate and exacerbate the given arid conditions to create an increasingly unforgiving environment that defines the real water crisis in the Fuuta Tooro. It is imperative that those considering river dams as a means for CCV adaptation take these potential repercussions into account.