The Konkouré River arises in west-central Guinea and flows into the Atlantic Ocean.[1] Several dams on the river provide the country with much of its electricity.
Geography
editThe river originates in the Futa Jallon highland region and flows in a westerly direction 303 km (188 mi) to the Atlantic Ocean north of the Baie de Sangareya (Sangareya Bay)[1] at 9°46'N, 14°19'W.[2] The Kakrima River is its major tributary.[2] The river delta covers 320 km2 (120 sq mi).[3] Vessels of up to 3 m (9.8 ft) draft can navigate upstream to Konkouré; beyond that point, there are rapids.[4]
Environment
editThe upper river flows over a rocky substrate with many rapids and waterfalls, making it unsuitable for navigation, though it does make it suitable for electricity production. The lower river is a shallow, funnel-shaped, mesotidal, mangrove-fringed, tide-dominated estuary.[5] Rice farms have been established in the mangrove areas of the delta "with some success".[6]
Wildlife
editThe river is home to 96 recorded freshwater fish species.[7]
The estuary, along with part of Sangareya Bay and the mouths of the Konkouré and Bouramaya rivers, has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant populations of western reef egrets, pied avocets and common redshanks. It encompasses 28,000 ha of mangroves, mudflats, sandbanks and rice-fields. African manatees occur in the mangroves and common bottlenose dolphins in the bay.[8]
Dams
editIn 1999, the Garafiri Dam was opened at a cost of $221 million; it can produce 75 megawatts (101,000 hp) of electricity.[1] Construction of a 240-megawatt (320,000 hp) hydroelectric dam on the river near Kaleta, the Kaleta Hydropower Plant, was completed in June 2015 and commissioned on 28 September at a cost of $526 million;[9] the 1,545-metre-long (5,069 ft) dam lies about 120 kilometres (75 mi)[10] or 85 miles (137 km)[9] north of the capital city of Conakry.[10]
In 2015, the central government contracted with Chinese firms to begin building a 550-megawatt (740,000 hp) dam (the Souapiti Hydropower Station), near Souapiti, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) further upstream,[10] which would almost double Guinea's power generation output at an estimated cost of $2 billion.[11][12] This would, however, require that 15,000 people move out of what would become a flood plain.[10]
References
edit- ^ a b c Camara, Mohamed Saliou; O'Toole, Thomas; Baker, Janice E. (7 November 2013). Historical Dictionary of Guinea. Scarecrow Press. pp. 195–196. ISBN 9780810879690. Retrieved 22 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Source book for the inland fishery resources of Africa Vol. 2: Country Files (Contd.): Guinea". Food and Agriculture Organization.
- ^ Wolanski, Eric; Cassagne, Bernard (February 2000). "Salinity intrusion and rice farming in the mangrove-fringed Konkoure River delta, Guinea". Wetlands Ecology and Management. 8 (1): 29–36. doi:10.1023/A:1008470005880.
- ^ National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (1 October 2009). NGA Sailing Directions-Enroute: 2008 West Coast of Europe and Northwest Africa (11th Edition). ProStar Publications. p. 240. ISBN 9781577858850.
- ^ Capo, Sylvain; Sottolichio, Aldo; Brenon, I.; Ferry, Luc (May 2006). "Morphology, hydrography and sediment dynamics in a mangrove estuary: The Konkoure Estuary, Guinea". Marine Geology. 230 (3–4): 199–215. doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2006.05.003.
- ^ Saenger, Peter (29 June 2013). Mangrove Ecology, Silviculture and Conservation. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 290–291. ISBN 9789401599627.
- ^ Smith, Kevin G.; et al. (2009). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in Western Africa. IUCN. p. 22. ISBN 9782831711638.
- ^ "Konkouré". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2024. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
- ^ a b Poindexter, Gregory B. (1 October 2015). "Guinea increases generating capacity with US$526 million 240-MW Kaleta hydroelectric facility". HydroWorld.
- ^ a b c d Wild, Franz; Camara, Ougna (14 September 2015). "China's CWE in Talks to Build $2 Billion Dam in Guinea". Bloomberg News.
- ^
Elizabeth Ingram (23 September 2015). "Guinea considering Chinese partner to build 550-MW Souapiti hydro". HydroWorld magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
Souapiti, on the Konkoure River, is expected to cost about $2 billion, and its completion would almost double the country's electricity generation output.
- ^
Michael Harris (28 December 2015). "CWE breaks ground on Guinea's 550-MW Souapiti hydropower project". HydroWorld magazine. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
The China International Water & Electric Corp. has broken ground on the 550-MW Souapiti hydropower project in Guinea.