Appendix 1. Specifications for the expert group review

1The six questions below provided this group review’s framework. They were drawn up during a November 2002 meeting in Bamako, which was called to identify the needs of public-sector agencies in charge of administrating the Niger River in Mali.

2Question 1 – What information, parameters and schemes will help us manage and share water resources in a fair, efficient and sustainable manner in line with the needs of the Niger River’s users?

3Question 2 – What variables do we need to take into account to regu­late the use of water in agricultural operations?

4Question 3 – What hard facts do we have about the river’s flow and about medium-term and long-term environmental changes? What indicators do we need to monitor these changes?

5Question 4 – What can we do to better protect people and property from sharp flow variations? Can we provide measures to contain any possible catastrophes?

6Question 5 – How is the institutional and legal framework of the river’s activity management evolving? Can we extract elements of diagnosis about the operation of this framework and its adaptation to development of local community responsibility?

7Question 6 –What sort of information system can we develop (taking into account currently-available tools and techniques as well as the information requirements stemming from the questions above)?