The Founkama Micro-Dam: A Hydraulic Structure to be Preserved, Guinea

Abstract

Designed to irrigate rice paddies and improve local agricultural production in the Niger River plain near Faranah, this article focuses on the Founkama micro-dam, a hydraulic structure located in the urban commune of Faranah, Guinea. To study this structure, several field missions were conducted in the Niger River plain near Faranah, during both the dry and rainy seasons. Built on the Niger River in 1981, the Founkama micro-dam irrigates 150 hectares of the Niger River plain near Faranah. Currently, water resources are becoming scarce in the Niger River plain near Faranah during the dry season, hindering the development of agro-pastoral activities, as the micro-dam is abandoned and its infrastructure is dilapidated. These difficulties justify the validity of this study, which focused on the preservation of the Founkama micro-dam in the commune of Faranah, Guinea. The results showed that the observed deterioration of the structure could be due, on the one hand, to the aging of the materials, manifested by exposed aggregates on the upstream face as well as the presence of vegetation, and on the other hand, to the undersized circular discharge openings with an internal diameter of 40 cm located in the body of the dam, which act as flood spillways in the case of conventional dams. To safeguard this hydraulic heritage, this study proposes the rehabilitation of the existing structure and the construction of a new micro-dam with225 a side spillway and fixed weir on the same site and at the same elevation as the existing one, in order to supplement the existing structure and address the scarcity of water resources during the dry season, which is essential for the development of agro-pastoral activities in the Niger River plain at Faranah. This aligns well with one of the objectives of the SINANDOU 2040 program initiated by the Guinean government. Keywords: Micro-dam, dike, sluice gate, Niger River plain, Founkama, Faranah.