Year: 2026 | Month: April | Volume: 13 | Issue: 4 | Pages: 225-234
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260422
The Founkama Micro-Dam: A Hydraulic Structure to be Preserved, Guinea
Babilas HOUNTONDJI1,2, Mamadouba CONTE1, Lambert Kpadédji AYITCHEHOU3, Abdoulaye CISSE1, François de Paule CODO4
1Assistant Professor, Higher Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine “Valery Giscard d’Estaing” of Faranah (ISAV-VGE/F), PO Box 131, Faranah, Guinea.
2Assistant Professor, Faculty of Agronomic and Environmental Sciences (FSAE), Catholic University of West Africa - Cotonou University Unit (UCAO-UUC), 04 PO Box 928, Cotonou, Benin.
3Researcher, Laboratory of Water and Environmental Sciences and Techniques (LSTEE), National Institute of Water of Benin, University of Abomey-Calavi (INE/UAC), 01 PO Box 526, Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
4Professor, Laboratory of Water and Environmental Sciences and Techniques (LSTEE), National Institute of Water of Benin, University of Abomey-Calavi (INE/UAC), 01 PO Box 526, Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
Corresponding Author: Babilas HOUNTONDJI
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 with 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.
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