17 Strengthening Flood and Drought Risk Management Tools …
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Lake Chad has been a centre for development, trade and cultural exchange among
established populations in the north and south of the Sahara for thousands of years.
The lake is a direct source of livelihood to 2.5 million people living on its shores and
islands. It is also a net exporter of food and a source of seasonal jobs, contributing
to the food and job security of about 13 million people living in its hinterlands,
including Ndjamena and Maiduguri. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of the
lake, its natural variability and the dynamics of water resources within the basin on
seasonal to multi-annual timescales is of critical importance for adaptation. While
climate change models do not show a clear rainfall trend in the region, rainfall is
an important component of natural hydro-climatic variability. Importantly, human
intervention within the basin includes water resource development such as largescale irrigation, which will also continue to influence the basin’s water balance and
dynamics. An example of this is the agricultural development of the KomadougouYobe Upper Basin and the decline and sometimes disappearance of the river, resulting
in the extinction of Lake Chad’s Northern Basin.
Due to its critical importance for the livelihood of the population, the water
resources dynamics of Lake Chad must be understood and challenges facing the basin
must be addressed through an inclusive and evidence-based ecosystem and Integrated
Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach. The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) has been working with its member states and partners to improve
transboundary water resource management. Milestones have included the adoption
of a common vision in 2008 and the development of the Lake Chad Basin Strategic
Action Programme 2025. The Lake Chad Water Charter, currently developed and
approved, is a binding framework for the member states to promote sustainable development in the basin through the integrated, equitable and coordinated management
of natural resources, in particular, water resources. Various plans and projects have
been developed in response, including the Lake Chad Development and Climate
Resilience Action Plan (LCDAP) for the period 2016–2025, which seeks to turn
Lake Chad into a centre of regional rural development, known as the LCBC Rehabilitate and Strengthen the Resilience of Socio-ecological Systems in the Lake Chad
Basin (PRESIBALT) Programme. A Global Environment Facility (GEF) project,
‘Improving Lake Chad management through Building Climate Change Resilience
and Reducing Ecosystem Stress through Implementation of the SAP for the Lake
Chad Basin’, has also been approved.
Uncertainties about the water resources of the Lake Chad Basin and its changes
under climate variability and climate change remain a challenge. In particular, floods
and droughts present significant challenges to agriculture and water resource management, and monitoring hydrological extremes in near-real-time and short-term-toseasonal forecasts is therefore essential to be able to manage risks. However, data
collection mechanisms are currently very limited, in part because of unreliable
monitoring networks. Similarly, climate and hydrological forecasting has not been
implemented and therefore its potential to provide early warning is untested.
Satellite remote sensing and hydrological modelling has been introduced into
regions that have limited, if any, ground observations, and little capacity to develop
other adequate monitoring and analysis systems. Satellite remote sensing can provide
389
Lake Chad has been a centre for development, trade and cultural exchange among
established populations in the north and south of the Sahara for thousands of years.
The lake is a direct source of livelihood to 2.5 million people living on its shores and
islands. It is also a net exporter of food and a source of seasonal jobs, contributing
to the food and job security of about 13 million people living in its hinterlands,
including Ndjamena and Maiduguri. Therefore, understanding the dynamics of the
lake, its natural variability and the dynamics of water resources within the basin on
seasonal to multi-annual timescales is of critical importance for adaptation. While
climate change models do not show a clear rainfall trend in the region, rainfall is
an important component of natural hydro-climatic variability. Importantly, human
intervention within the basin includes water resource development such as largescale irrigation, which will also continue to influence the basin’s water balance and
dynamics. An example of this is the agricultural development of the KomadougouYobe Upper Basin and the decline and sometimes disappearance of the river, resulting
in the extinction of Lake Chad’s Northern Basin.
Due to its critical importance for the livelihood of the population, the water
resources dynamics of Lake Chad must be understood and challenges facing the basin
must be addressed through an inclusive and evidence-based ecosystem and Integrated
Water Resource Management (IWRM) approach. The Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) has been working with its member states and partners to improve
transboundary water resource management. Milestones have included the adoption
of a common vision in 2008 and the development of the Lake Chad Basin Strategic
Action Programme 2025. The Lake Chad Water Charter, currently developed and
approved, is a binding framework for the member states to promote sustainable development in the basin through the integrated, equitable and coordinated management
of natural resources, in particular, water resources. Various plans and projects have
been developed in response, including the Lake Chad Development and Climate
Resilience Action Plan (LCDAP) for the period 2016–2025, which seeks to turn
Lake Chad into a centre of regional rural development, known as the LCBC Rehabilitate and Strengthen the Resilience of Socio-ecological Systems in the Lake Chad
Basin (PRESIBALT) Programme. A Global Environment Facility (GEF) project,
‘Improving Lake Chad management through Building Climate Change Resilience
and Reducing Ecosystem Stress through Implementation of the SAP for the Lake
Chad Basin’, has also been approved.
Uncertainties about the water resources of the Lake Chad Basin and its changes
under climate variability and climate change remain a challenge. In particular, floods
and droughts present significant challenges to agriculture and water resource management, and monitoring hydrological extremes in near-real-time and short-term-toseasonal forecasts is therefore essential to be able to manage risks. However, data
collection mechanisms are currently very limited, in part because of unreliable
monitoring networks. Similarly, climate and hydrological forecasting has not been
implemented and therefore its potential to provide early warning is untested.
Satellite remote sensing and hydrological modelling has been introduced into
regions that have limited, if any, ground observations, and little capacity to develop
other adequate monitoring and analysis systems. Satellite remote sensing can provide