The Senegal River is rising again, the water resources brigade reassures

It's a rude awakening! After a decline that gave hope for the end of the rainy season, the Senegal River has suddenly started to rise again this Monday, with more than a meter gained in 24 hours in Bakel and on the Falémé, without however reaching the alert levels.

According to the bulletin from the Saint-Louis Water Resources Brigade published this Monday, the most dramatic rise was recorded on the Falémé River at Kidira, on the Malian border. The water level rose from 5.21 meters on Sunday to 6.56 meters this Monday, an increase of 135 centimeters overnight.

The same scenario played out in Bakel, the river's entry point into Senegal: 7.24 m compared to 6.11 m the previous day, an increase of 113 cm. However, this remains far from the catastrophic scenario of 2025, when Bakel reached 9.93 m on the same date, nearing the alert threshold of 10 m.

Further downstream, the wave is spreading more slowly: Matam at 4.58 m (plus 14 cm), Podor at 3.35 m (plus 4 cm), Richard-Toll at 2.66 m (plus 1 cm) and Saint-Louis at 0.96 m. All stations remain below the alert levels.

This rebound could be explained by the heavy rains that fell this weekend on the upper basin, in the Fouta Djallon of Guinea and the southeast of Senegal.

At Manantali, the reservoir level is low, at 204.8 m compared to 208.28 m last year, leaving some leeway. At Diama, the upstream level "is being lowered to prepare for the passage of the flood without major consequences for Saint-Louis," the brigade stated.