Integrated water resources management along the Senegal River: Introducing an analytical framework

Past attempts to manage the Senegal River to improve the national economies of West African nations have generally not been successful. Analysis of the problem requires an understanding of a large number of intertwining variables that are difficult to quantify. The authors demonstrate the use of a Bayesian network to investigate the effects of three policy scenarios: emphasis on improving macro-economies, emphasis on improving rural livelihoods, and "integrated water resources management." The authors also discuss the variables involved in their modeling approach.