Will the Inner Niger Delta shrivel up due to climate change and water use upstream?
Published on:
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Climate and disaster risks
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Water supply and sanitation
When the climate will change in the Sahel, this will have an impact on the flooding of the Inner Niger Delta and, therefore, also on its ecological and economic functions. This report evaluates the human-driven changes in the hydrology of the Upper Niger and the possible additional impact of a climate change. The data sets used by Zwarts et al. (2005) are re-analysed and updated (as far as possible) for recent years: annual rainfall in the Upper Niger Basin, annual river discharge of Bani and Niger upstream of the Inner Niger Delta, water use (dams and irrigation schemes upstream of the Inner Niger Delta), and maximal annual flood extent of the Inner Niger Delta.
