page_title: Kabara, Mali
section_title: Canals
hierarchical_section_title: Kabara, Mali / Canals
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of the Timbuktu area of Mali showing the Niger River and Kabara.
context_page_description: Kabara is a small town in Mali on the Niger River, the port for Timbuktu.
  It is 8 km to the south of Timbuktu and is connected to an arm of the Niger River by a 3 km canal.
  The town has at times in the past been linked to Timbuktu by an extension of the canal.
  However, silting and lower water levels in recent years have made the extension canal unusable and the Kabara port usable only during the high water seasons.
context_section_description: In the past, the area flooded by the Niger was more extensive than today.
  In years with high rainfall the floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself.
  The Koriomé canal from Daï to Kabara was dug by the emperor Soni Ali Ber when he captured Timbuktu in 1468.
  An extension known as the "Hippopotamus Canal" was later excavated from Kabara up to Timbuktu.
  A small navigable waterway to the west of Timbuktu is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Félix Dubois in 1896.
  Between 1917 and 1921 the French used slave labour to again dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara.
  In 1929 the Kabara harbour was a circle of water surrounded by sand at the head of a canal running up from the Niger, used only during the high water season.
  A shallow canal meandered up from Kabara to Timbuktu, and was used when the Niger was in flood to transport goods to the city.
  The local people would drink its unfiltered water and become sick from guinea-worm.
  Kabara was also connected to Timbuktu by a broad sandy track, with two fords over the canal.
  From the 1970s prolonged drought caused a drop in the water level of the Niger River, and the canals no longer filled.
  The canal up to Timbuktu became heavily silted and unusable.
  A Libyan-financed clearance project was launched in August 2006.
  The newly excavated canal extended about 19 kilometres (12 mi) from Daï to Timbuktu via Kabara.
  The 14.3 kilometres (8.9 mi) long and 7 to 12 metres (23 to 39 ft) wide section from Kabara to Timbuktu was reopened in April 2007.
  The canal was also expected to be used to water animals and irrigate market gardens.
  Problems included steep sides and lack of easy access to the water, lack of footbridges for those wanting to cross it, seasonal drying up and health issues with the water basin in Timbuktu.
  Without a maintenance plan the canal could again be filled with sand from the surrounding dunes.
  As of 2009 the channel from the Niger to Kabara was normally unnavigable in the low water months of September to December.
  Boats were diverted to Korioumé.
caption: Kabara-Timbuktu region (1896)
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