The Faguibine System

Lake  Figuibine  or  Lake Faguibine  (English name) is a lake located north of the central part of  Mali  in the  Inner Niger Delta . In times of flood, the water can spread nearly 80 kilometers or more.

The Figuibine system brings together five interconnected lakes fed by two backwaters  effluents  from the  Niger  between the towns of  Diré  and  Timbuktu : the 64 km  long Kondi  backwater and the 104 km  long Tassakane backwater  , the two merging shortly before  Lake Télé  to form the  Goundam backwater .

The five lakes (  Télé ,  Takara ,  Gouber ,  Kamango  and Figuibine lakes) cover an area of  ​​86,000 hectares .

An arm of  the Niger River , the  Farabango , feeds Lake Télé in times of flood   thanks to two effluents from the Niger called marigots, with irregular and poorly drawn beds (Tassakane and Kondi marigots). These meet at Kaney to form the Goundam backwater which flows into Lake Télé.

From Télé, the waters pass without significant obstacle towards  Lake Takara  which itself flows over the threshold of Kamaïna (  251 m elevation ) to supply Lake Figuibine. This floods an area of  ​​54,000 hectares . When it is flooded up to Ras El Ma (western end), that is to say when the flood reaches the  252 m mark , the waters invade  Lake Gouber  then  Lake Kamango . Finally, during the most important floods, the waters can continue their route from Lake Figuibine through a channel to two large floodplains named Daounas Kaïna and Daounas Berry. These were, however, only fulfilled during the last period in 1892 and in 1956-57. 

These lands are very fertile and allow  food crops  ( sorghum ,  maize ,  sweet potato ,  potato , groundnut ,  vegetables ) without the addition of mineral fertilizers.

Satellite view of Lake Figuibine (in the shape of a spearhead) and  Lake Komango  at its eastern end, in April 1991. The  Niger River  is at the bottom right, in the photo,  Lake Télé  is in the center,  Lake Horo  in bottom left and  Lake Fati  bottom right.