The study is part of a program of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). It concerns the implementation of a management model of water resources across the Niger River basin, which covers nine countries (Guinea, Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad). The model implemented in MIKE BASIN can analyze current practices and future to illustrate the impact of changing water needs and environmental changes. It is a true tool for decision support to optimize the water management on a global scale.

Large-scale dam projects are under study in different countries of the basin to meet the growing demand for water for urban supply, irrigation, hydropower, etc.. This is a first step to study the impact of these projects on the current uses and resources available in general. Long time series of runoff are generated, including the severe drought of the early 1980s. Particular attention is paid to complex hydrological processes in the inland delta (Mali), where much water is lost by evaporation.

The model allows individual countries, as well as the Niger Basin Authority, to create a strategy for a sustainable development of the basin. As part of the project training and technology transfer has taken place as well as development of a customized interface of the model focusing toward use by senior key managment staff