Add to ORKGInternational audienceA natural channel, turned into a canal several centuries ago and renovated recently with Libyan funding, the watercourse that links the Niger River to Timbuktu at intervals—at the scale of long periods as well as that of seasons—can be considered to have heritage value. Optimal, sustainable use required a development plan based first of all on new topometric and hydrological data. Although identified obstacles—topographic ones in particular—to the rise of water levels in the Niger have gone, the presence of water in the canal depends solely on the depth, duration and calendar of the river flood. It was therefore necessary to gain accurate knowledge of the changes in the water level at Koryoumé where daily mean discharg...