Konkouré River

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.

The river originates in the Futa Jallon highland region and flows in a westerly direction 303 kilometres (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 square kilometres (120 sq mi).[3] The "Lower Konkouré is a shallow, funnel shaped, mesotidal, mangrove-fringed, tide dominated estuary".[4] Rice farms have been established in the mangrove areas of the delta "with some success".[5]

In 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 Kaléta was completed in June 2015 and commissioned on 28 September at a cost of $526 million;[6] the 1,545-metre (5,069 ft)-long dam lies about 120 kilometres (75 mi)[7] or 85 miles (137 km)[6] north of the capital city of Conakry.[7] In 2015, the central government contracted with Chinese firms to begin building a 550-megawatt (740,000 hp) dam near Souapiti, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) further upstream,[7] which would almost double Guinea's power generation output at an estimated cost of $2 billion.[8][9] This would, however, require that 15,000 people move out of what would become a flood plain.[7]

The river is home to 96 recorded freshwater fish species.[10]

Vessels of up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) draft can navigate upstream to Konkouré; beyond that point, there are rapids.[11]

References
  1. 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.
  2. "Source book for the inland fishery resources of Africa Vol. 2: Country Files (Contd.): Guinea". Food and Agriculture Organization.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Saenger, Peter (29 June 2013). Mangrove Ecology, Silviculture and Conservation. Springer Science & Business Media. pp. 290–291. ISBN 9789401599627.
  6. Poindexter, Gregory B. (1 October 2015). "Guinea increases generating capacity with US$526 million 240-MW Kaleta hydroelectric facility". HydroWorld.
  7. Wild, Franz; Camara, Ougna (14 September 2015). "China's CWE in Talks to Build $2 Billion Dam in Guinea". Bloomberg News.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. Smith, Kevin G.; et al. (2009). The Status and Distribution of Freshwater Biodiversity in Western Africa. IUCN. p. 22. ISBN 9782831711638.
  11. 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.

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