Word: tchad
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...where it no longer flowed out through the Bahr el Ghazal. Rice farmers along the river banks and the lake's once-fertile shores packed up and moved southward. With the maximum depth of the lake down to 22 feet, the French set up the Commission Scientifique de Tchad to study ways of preserving the livelihood of the 200,000 people still clustered on its shores...
Despite such hazards, the scientists of the Commission Scientifique du Tchad are enthusiastic about the lake's apparent resurrection. It will immensely increase the agricultural yield of the region and stimulate trade along newly created waterways. At the same time, none of the scientists will predict how long the lake will continue to rise. Although it is currently higher than it has been in 50 years, its rise has not been accompanied by any increase in rainfall. The scientists' best guess: the underground reservoir of water into which the lake's waters have apparently been draining...