 The large year-to-year variation in the intensity of the West African Monsoon gives rise to large changes in the discharge of the Bakoy River.For the exceptionally dry year of 1972, the average flow at the Oualia gauging station, 54 km upstream of Bafoulabé, was only 30 m3/s while in 1958 the value was 260 m3/s.The average flow over the period 1951-1978 was 156 m3/s corresponding to an annual discharge of 4.9 km3.