Spatial Analysis of the Mode of Management and Conflicts of Use of Water Resources in the Watershed of the Lobo River in Nibehibe (Central-Western Côte d'Ivoire)

Abstract

Water is an indispensable resource for all activities developed by man. Water resources are indispensable for the survival of the populations of the Lobo watershed in Nibéhibé. They offer many multidimensional services. Around these important resources, social actors have different ways of perceiving them. This is why their management comes up against a difference in logic and action on the part of the different stakeholders. Thus, it must be noted that there is a crystallization of social relations between the different groups of actors involved and this is based on conflicts of use and the intensity of water scarcity. The objective of this study is to show the relationship between management mode and conflicts of use of water resources in the Lobo watershed in Nibéhibé. To achieve this objective, the methodology was based on the triptych documentary research, interview and questionnaire survey. The documentary research consisted in defining the contours of the subject in order to better understand it. Then, the interviews carried out with the actors of the water sector in the Lobo basin made it possible to collect information on the perception and the mode of management of the water resources in the basin. Finally, using the simple random selection method without discount and the use of a statistical equation, a sample of 384 households spread over the entire catchment area served as the basis for our surveys. Population surveys, combined with spatially referenced data under a GIS, have made it possible to map the spatial distribution of water supply sites on the one hand, and the spatial distribution of water-related conflict types on the other. The results show that the population has a wide variety of water supply sources. Moreover, the current management mode is either liberal (or private) or participatory (or community-based) depending on the type of water resource (surface or groundwater) and on the perception of the actors with regard to water. Thus, the different uses generate conflicts that are perceived between cultural actors (indigenous) and economic actors such as SODECI (Water Distribution Company in Côte d'Ivoire) and fishermen (non-indigenous). There are also conflicts between women, which can be summarized as disputes over water points and distrust between different communities. An integrated management of water resources in this watershed would therefore be beneficial to all stakeholders.