Implications of climatic variability and climate change on water resources availability and water resources management in West Africa

This paper discusses the implications of climatic variability and change for water resources systems in West Africa, with particular reference to hydrological systems, water resources availability, and water resources management. The paper in particular discusses issues related to rainfall trends, seasonal variations in river flows, mean annual trends in river flows and discharges, and local variations and extremes of river discharges. The paper also discusses the climate change implications for groundwater variations, water resources availability and climatic events (including droughts and floods). The results show that a lot of spatial and temporal variations occur regionally and locally, but in general there have been downward trends in rainfall and increases in water deficits and drought events. The paper then discusses the response strategies needed to adapt to the climate change impacts on water resources, and emphasizes the need for both water supply-demand adaptations, details of which are discussed in the paper. The paper finally discusses the mechanisms needed for the implementation of the adaptation measures. Such mechanisms include: (a) building capacity and manpower development of water institutions in the region for producing hydrological and hydroclimatological data; (b) public participation and the involvement of stakeholders; (c) the establishment of both national and regional cooperation; and (d) the need for climate and other environmental data collection and monitoring.