requires about 4 km3 of water. This represents around 17 percent of the average discharge of the Niger (1970-1998) at Diré. The lake bed is very fertile and the ideal situation for the sedentary farmers is when the lake is only partially filled. This allows crops to be cultivated around the border of the lake and the growth of Echinochloa stagnina ("bourgou") in low-lying areas to provide dry season pasture. This regime requires much less water – only around 0.5 km3. River Niger and the annual flood The filling of Lake Faguibine with water from the Niger River is dependent on both the height of the annual flood and the free flow of water along the complex route linking the lake to the river. The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in Guinea and for its important tributary, the Bani River, that in northern Côte d'Ivoire and southwest Mali. In all areas the rainfall peaks in the month of August. The amount of rain, and thus the height of the flood, varies from year to year. In years with high flood levels such as between 1924-1930 and 1951-1955 the lake is completely filled. In years with low rainfall the lake can dry out completely. In the 20th century this occurred in 1914, 1924 and 1944 and became a regular occurrence after the severe drought that began in the late 1970s. Low flood levels are exacerbated by the construction of dams on the Niger river or it tributaries that retain the floodwater and thus attenuate the maximum height of the flood downstream. Of the existing dams, the most significant is the Sélingué Dam on the Sankarani River in southwest Mali that can store 2.2 km3 of water. There are plans to build a new large dam, the Fomi dam, on the Niandan tributary in Guinea that will store almost 3 times the amount of water as that stored by the Sélingué dam. If constructed this dam would further reduce the intensity of the annual flood. One of the major aims of a United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office (UNSO) project (1986-1990) was to improve the connection of the Niger with Lake Faguibine and to cut some of the meanders of the Kondi channel. The project was interrupted by the Tuareg Rebellion (1990–1995). During the 1980s the low height of the annual floods created intense competition for