Ministers and Development Partners advance Cooperation on the Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin

On the 22nd of October, a second high-level session was held on the regional initiative for cross-border cooperation on the Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB). This initiative is seen as a flagship for transboundary cooperation on shared aquifers both at the African level and in the trajectory to the 2026 UN Water Conference.  The meeting was attended by the Ministers of Water Affairs for Mauritania and Guinea Bissau as well as by the Directors General for Water Affairs for Senegal and Gambia. The objective of the session was to review the progress made on transboundary cooperation on the SMAB since the first ministerial meeting in 2021, as well as to approve the priorities and strategic directions of this cooperation process.

The meeting featured - amongst other things - the presentation of the progress report of the working group on the SMAB, a draft cooperation agreement, and progress made on the mobilisation of funds by the EU, the World Bank and others for the implementation of the regional programme

The meeting took place in the framework of the 10th Meeting of Parties to the Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Water Convention) in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It represents the next step forward in a long history of transboundary collaboration between the countries, particularly noteworthy because of its focus on shared groundwater resources: of the 468 transboundary aquifers that have been identified globally, less than 1% of these aquifers are regulated by a treaty.  The collaboration on the SMAB is therefore highly significant in the realm of transboundary collaboration - all the more so in view of the long and well reputed history of transboundary water cooperation between the countries.  

The European Union - with technical support from the Secretariat of the Water Convention, the Geneva Water Hub, the International Groundwater Resources Assessment Centre, and UNESCO - is facilitating the implementation of a project designed to reach the first milestones in transboundary cooperation on the aquifer. The regional programme on the SMAB has recently been elaborated under the guidance of the Senegal River Basin Organisation (OMVS) and the Gambia River Basin Development Organisation (OMVG), in coordination with European Member States, and focused on a number of concrete actions.  

The support being provided from the European Commission falls under the Team Europe Initiative to support development and regional integration across the African continent through the strengthening of  transboundary water management.  In the context of this initiative, support was already being provided for transboundary water management in the Senegal River Basin. Now, with the newly elaborated programme for transboundary cooperation on the SMAB, the Team Europe regional project is in the process of being expanded in scope.  

Following consultations with stakeholders – and notably with the OMVS and OMVG, it was decided that EU support would be provided for activities that would reinforce integrated water resources management, and more specifically to improve the understanding of the aquifer in terms of its current and expected uses and future risks, as well as to enhance monitoring and assessment systems and data management and exchange.

 

These activities supplement broader support measures within a project for conjunctive water management which seeks the integrated management of surface and groundwater resources in the Senegal River Basin and the SMAB. These broader measures include support for the realisation of an operational observatory for the monitoring of water quantity and quality of the Fouta-Djalon Massif – which is the principal regional water tower and the source of both the Gambia and Senegal Rivers. In addition, the broader support package aims to enhance the protection of biodiversity in water related ecosystems through the control of invasive species.

 

Recent history of transboundary cooperation on the SMAB

The recent events and identification of specific project interventions build on three years of progressively more intense transboundary collaboration on the SMAB.

In September 2021, in Geneva, the Ministers of Water Affairs of the Republic of Gambia, the Republic of Guinea Bissau, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and the Republic of Senegal met in Geneva to sign an agreement on the Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (SMAB). Prior to this, Senegal and Mauritania had attended the 40th anniversary of the transboundary cooperation between France-Switzerland on the Genevese Aquifer, triggering a reflection on collaboration on the SMAB.  By May 2020, a Regional Working Group in had been established, leading ultimately to the signature of the Ministerial Declaration in 2021.  ​

The Declaration underlines the importance of groundwater resources for the economy, social development, environmental conservation, and the eradication of poverty, amongst others through food production.  It is also predicated on gender empowerment and a recognition of the linkages between water, peace and security.

The recent developments build on a long tradition of transboundary cooperation established by the Senegal River Basin Organisation (OMVS, founded in 1972) and the Gambia River Basin Development Organisation (OMVG, founded in 1978). The extension of this cooperation to groundwater is seen as a necessary step for integrated, sustainable and equitable management regional  water resources. The Gambia River Charter, for instance, does specify that groundwater is part of the scope of operations, but the provisions are vague and limited to questions of data management.  The OMVS is working on a framework plan for sustainable management of water resources, which includes the management of groundwater. 

Currently, 80% of the population living in the catchment area depend directly on the aquifer for their water supplies, and there is a relative lack both of data related to the water resources and governance mechanisms for the joint management of the aquifer. The countries recognised that their destinies are interlinked through shared water resources that they share, resulting in a conviction of the necessity to cooperate around the use of the aquifer.

In terms of the agreement, reforms of national water governance systems and strategic arrangements for transboundary cooperation will be needed. For evidence-based decision making, there is a need to strengthen national data on groundwater availability, current and future demand and projections into the future for its sustainable management in the face of climate change and anthropogenic pressures. It recognizes the importance of capacity building for groundwater monitoring and assessment, as well as the exchange of data and data and information management between the countries.

In the area of institutional and legal development, the agreement sets out a road map for the establishment of a legal and institutional framework for transboundary cooperation through a process of bilateral negotiations, which take into account the considerable strength of the existing legal and institutional frameworks of the Senegal River Basin Organisation (OMVS) and the Gambia River Basin Development Organisation (OMVG).

Recent Institutional Developments

Following a round table discussion in 2019 a roadmap for the development of a common vision and program for long-term cooperation in the basin was defined and approved. A working group on the SMAB – the Working Group (Groupe de Travail, GTR) - was then established in April 2020.

The work of the GTR and the preparation of the current project were based on five technical studies (on the scope and replenishment of the BASM, the evaluation of available data on groundwater, the diagnosis of capacity needs, the legal and institutional frameworks for water management and a review of existing models of transboundary groundwater cooperation).

The GTR is tasked primarily with supporting the exchange and sharing of data on the aquifer and its resources, with taking the lead in SMAB initiatives, including the negotiation of a legal and institutional framework, and with ensuring financing for activities, in dialogue with the financial and technical partners. Through the project, its main aim is to “promote the resilience, sustainability and stability of the region through strategic, integrated and concerted management of groundwater resources”.

To achieve this, the GTR will focus on improved knowledge of the aquifer in relation to planned uses of its waters, strengthened governance systems, and ensuring financial and political support.

A memorandum of understanding relating to the governance of the joint management programme for the SMAB was signed on October 26, 2023, between the OMVS and the OMVG.

About the basin

The Senegalo-Mauritanian Aquifer Basin (BASM) is a crucial source of water at the regional level. It extends over a surface area of 331,450 km², which includes 100% of the surface area of Gambia, 27% of that of Guinea-Bissau, 14% of Mauritania and 84% of Senegal. The basin of the Gambia River overlies 18% of the surface area of the SMAB, while the Senegal River Basin overlies 32% of the SMAB.

The SMAB is expected to play a vital role in the strengthening of the region's climate resilience. Rising temperatures will increase evaporation and reduce river flow. Additionally, most scenarios for the region predict increased drought and reduced precipitation as well as a shorter rainy season. The concomitant decrease in the availability of surface water resources is expected to increase dependence on the water resources of the SMAB. At the same time, managing the recharge and storage of water in aquifers constitutes a means of adaptation to climate change. Currently, the SMAB faces overexploitation and declining water quality.

Overexploitation and pollution or groundwater resources are problems common to all four countries, already observed in superficial aquifers, particularly in coastal areas and near large urban centers. However, neither the SMAB’s current information management nor its resource governance mechanisms are yet sufficient to address the above-mentioned issues and therefore cannot ensure sustainability of resource use. Indeed, the decrease in the availability of surface water resources will increase dependence on groundwater resources. At the same time, managing the recharge and storage of aquifers constitutes a means of adaptation to climate change.

 

The development of the SMAB therefore constitutes a major political, economic and social opportunity. It is also a timely response to an increasingly urgent need to incorporate groundwater governance within the broader framework of transboundary water cooperation that already exists in the region.