Plaquette : Senegal River Basin Water Resources en Environment Management project (GEF/SRB) : A new instrument designed to promote development at local level - high Commission

....................... ... .. ... ... .................. ............ .... ................ ........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CO-FINANCING BV THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS _ n addition to the GEF grant, technical l and financial assistance has been made available by the Kingdom of the Netherlands to strengthen and extend the project to other supplementary aspects associated with and aimed at achieving better management of water resources and the environment. The targeted objective is, on the one hand, to lay the strategie foundations for a more rational use of the Senegal river water resources in a thrust to alleviate poverty and, on the other hand, to provide the basin's riparian countries with a reference system in terms of strategie actions in the field of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) and the environment. ln practical terms the co-financing of the Kingdom of the Netherlands resulted in the recruitment of a Technical Assistant and the provision of a 9.776.898,46 Euro funding, with the World Bank as the Executing Agency. Said financing is distributed among five components as follows: . Component 1 : IWRM and control of invasive aquatic weeds and plants An efficient control of invasive aquatic plants necessarily calls for accountability of ail users. Such accountability cannot be achieved without decentralisation in water management with the prospect of effectively involving water users in the maintenance of hydraulic axes at ail levels. . Component 2 : IWRM and control of soil degradation ln order to curb soil degradation and silting in the Senegal river in the Upper and Middle Valleys, a detailed hydrologie and economie survey shall be carried out to find out the causes for bank erosion, make appropriate options for their stabilisation and to assess the economie and social impacts of river bank erosion. > Mechanical Clearing of a Typha-invaded water area . Component 3 : Strengthening the OMVS Observatory of the Environment and piezometrie research The objective of this component is to backstop the Observatory of the Environment in terms of historical and present series of data collection and in setting up, in the member states, a system designed for the circulation and dissemination of those data. This activity also includes the collection, by a specialised structure, of existing topographical data in the framework of a GIS system.. - Component 4 : Control of water-borne diseases and potable water supply The purpose here shall be to to promote access to potable water supplYand to set up appropriate facilities likely to help disrupt the contact between man and the river in a move to ensure better control of the spread of endemic water borne diseases in some parts of the basin. Committees will be set up to ensure the management of said facilities. - Component 5 : Institutional support to OMVS and national services. An institutional and technical support will be provided to ail structures involved in the management of resources in the basin, be it at local, national and regional levels.