Konkouré River


The Konkouré River arises in west-central Guinea and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Several dams on the river provide the country with much of its electricity.
The river originates in the Futa Jallon highland region and flows in a westerly direction to the Atlantic Ocean north of the Baie de Sangareya at 9°46'N, 14°19'W. The Kakrima River is its major tributary. The river delta covers. The "Lower Konkouré is a shallow, funnel shaped, mesotidal, mangrove-fringed, tide dominated estuary". Rice farms have been established in the mangrove areas of the delta "with some success".
In 1999, the Garafiri Dam was opened at a cost of $221 million; it can produce of electricity. Construction of a hydroelectric dam on the river near Kaléta was completed in June 2015 and commissioned on 28 September at a cost of $526 million; the -long dam lies about or north of the capital city of Conakry. In 2015, the central government contracted with Chinese firms to begin building a dam near Souapiti, about further upstream, which would almost double Guinea's power generation output at an estimated cost of $2 billion. This would, however, require that 15,000 people move out of what would become a flood plain.
The river is home to 96 recorded freshwater fish species.
Vessels of up to draft can navigate upstream to Konkouré; beyond that point, there are rapids.