Presenter
Dr. Edouard DIOUF, TROPIS SARL
Co-author(s)
Dr. COLY ADRIEN, Université Gaston Berger
Mr. DIALLO Mamadou, Université Gaston Berge
Sub-theme
1. Water-Human-Economy(Agriculture, Industry, City...)-Ecology Nexus under a Changing Environment
Topic
1-6. Water security, human development and economic growth linkages
Body
The Dakar region is one of the 14 administrative regions of Senegal. It is the capital of the country in all respects, particularly economic, political and cultural. Compared to the other regions, it is the smallest in terms of surface area (550 km2 or 0.28% of the national territory) but it is home to the largest share of the Senegalese population with a population density of 6,786 inhabitants/km2 in 2019. Also, this region has a very strategic geographical position as it is located at the extreme west of the Cape Verde peninsula, right on the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between 17° 10 and 17° 32 West longitude and 14° 53 and 14° 35 North latitude. It is bounded to the east by the Thiès region and by the Atlantic Ocean in its northern, western and southern parts. Thus, its geographical position, its administrative status and the diversity of its economic activities give it more advantages than the rest of the country. Since the 2000s, the groundwater resources of the Dakar region have been under constant threat, directly or indirectly, from the impacts of industrial and agricultural activities. They are exposed to potential risks of continuous or episodic alteration. The analysis highlights the vulnerability of the water table from the point of view of the sewerage system deficit. The DRASTIC method was used in this study. The application of this method consisted in filling in and evaluating all the parameters. An overall rating was given, which allowed the vulnerability of the groundwater resource to be assessed. An index mapping method with weighted criteria was applied to four communes in the Dakar region. The processing produced convincing results that led to a fairly clear analysis of the vulnerability of groundwater resources in the Dakar suburbs. The vulnerability map shows that the degree of vulnerability of the groundwater in the four communes studied is very high, with an index of 83%.