A Prototype of open source tool for water resources management in developing countries

The development of almost all socio-economic sectors depends on water resources. Indeed, water resources are mobilized to satisfy various uses like domestic, agricultural, industrial, livestock, tourism, leisure etc. In developing countries, water resources are not available in sufficient quantity and quality anytime, anywhere. This situation is worsened by the pressure induced by socioeconomic and population growth. It's therefore necessary to create the conditions for sustainable access to water for different users. Such approach must be supported by tools which allow management and analysis of current and historical data. The present paper describes a Spatial tool prototype for the integrated water resources management for various uses for developing countries. The tool assesses water vulnerability to pollution, water demand and soil erosion in a watershed. Design with Unified Modeling Language (UML), the tool integrates a socio-economic and environmental database for water resources assessment, management and planning at a watershed level. It is developed with Quantum GIS 1.6 shell enhanced with GRASS functionalities. Quantum GIS performs well under very poor computing conditions; this will make this tool accessible to all water resources actors. The tool uses PostGreSQL database with PostGIS analysis tools. The system was used to study the Baoule watershed in North-West of Côte d'Ivoire (West Africa). This paper presents the system and the results of the application study. This Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) aims to be an institutional spatial tool for decision making for concertation between all the water resource actors (users, managers) for a sustainable management of water.