CONTRIBUTION TO THE SOLUTION OF THE FOUNKAMA MICRO-DAM PROBLEM IN THE FARANAH MUNICIPALITY, GUINEA

Abstract

As part of efforts to ensure the rational use of the Founkama Plainan objective of Pillar 1, Agriculture, Food Industry, and Trade, of the SINANDOU 2040 program, initiated by the Guinean government, which aims for food sovereignty, the modernization of supply chains, and the development of local processing, this study proposes the rehabilitation of the existing Founkama micro-dam, built on the Niger River bed in 1981, by constructing a new modern micro-dam with a side spillway and fixed sill at the same site and elevation as the existing structure, to supplement the existing dam and address the scarcity of water resources during the dry seasona critical issue for the development of agro-pastoral activities in the Niger River plain area of Faranah. In this context, climatic, topographic, hydrographic, and pedological data were collected and analyzed for the study area. The results of the analyses showed a maximum average monthly rainfall of 325.7 mm,with maximum and minimum average monthly temperatures recorded around March (approximately 36C) and around January (approximately 13C), respectively, and a clay-loam soil texture. The design flood discharge (100-year return period) at the watershed level is estimated at 41 m3/s, while that at the spillway is 4.8 m3/s. Topographic data were used to determine the alignment of the new micro-dam and to confirm that the bottom of the reservoir basin is approximately flat.