Monthly Hydrological Bulletin. May 2019

The month of May 2019 marks the end of the hydrological year 2018/2019 in the Niger River Basin, which began since June 1^st , 2018.

Hydrological flow situation in the Niger basin during the month of May was characterized by a continued low flow in the Niger basin. However, at the level of the Upper Niger and the Lower Niger a slight recovery of evolution in flow due to dams releases and gradual installation of the rainy season.

The groundwater drainage and releases of reservoirs from the Sélingué dam on the Sankarani tributary in Mali, Kainji and Jebba dams on the Niger River in Nigeria supported the low water period.

The flow analysis situation will be carried out by dividing the basin into four sub-catchments also represented with reference gauge stations as follows: Upper Niger at Koulikoro (Mali), Inland Delta at Dire (Mali), Middle Niger in Niamey (Niger) and Lower Niger at Lokoja (Nigeria) as shown in figure 1.