Seychelles Reservoir Transparency

Quality dimensions for the COVERED subset are therefore 0 by definition. Original notes preserved below: Seychelles is the only country in this evaluation group with a named, significant, publicly acknowledged water-supply reservoir: La Gogue Dam on Mahé. The dam was raised by 6 m, increasing capacity from 1.0 Mm³ to 1.6 Mm³; it was recommissioned in December 2022 and inaugurated June 2023. The Public Utilities Corporation (PUC) manages La Gogue and publishes water-related information on its website (puc.sc/water). Historical media references confirm that fill levels have been publicly disclosed on specific occasions — 71% in 2012 per historic records, and 82% in 2023 per post-inauguration reporting. However, no continuous or scheduled reservoir level publication has been identified: PUC does not operate a public dashboard or data portal for La Gogue fill levels. Data emerges reactively through media coverage and drought restriction announcements.

Quality dimensions for the COVERED subset are therefore 0 by definition. Original notes preserved below: No API, open data portal, or downloadable dataset has been identified from PUC for La Gogue reservoir levels. The puc.sc/water page provides service information and project descriptions but no operational hydrological data. African Development Bank project documents (for both the original La Gogue Water Supply Study and the Mahé Sustainable Water Augmentation Project) are available as PDFs and contain engineering parameters, but these are project documents rather than operational data streams.

Capacity-weighted (v1.3.0): La Gogue Dam (1.6 Mm³ post-2022 expansion) dominates the Seychelles reservoir denominator. PUC publishes only reactive press notices during drought rather than systematic disclosure, providing weak/partial signal credit. Score lowered from 50 to 45 to apply a conservative discount reflecting the purely reactive nature of PUC's coverage of even its single primary reservoir. Prior justification (preserved for context): Methodology denominator counts reservoirs with capacity >10 hm³. Seychelles has zero qualifying reservoirs: La Gogue Dam, the country's only named impoundment, has a post-2022 capacity of 1.6 Mm³ (raised from 1.0 Mm³), well below the 10 hm³ threshold. PUC's 152 distribution reservoirs and 25 treatment plants are service infrastructure, not hydrological storage. With no reservoirs in the denominator, the coverage dimension is structurally zero: there is no large-reservoir estate for public monitoring to cover. The reactive media disclosures for La Gogue remain captured in the data_availability and update_frequency dimensions.

Quality dimensions for the COVERED subset are therefore 0 by definition. Original notes preserved below: Isolated historical data points for La Gogue fill levels exist in media archives: 71% (2012), levels cited during a 2022 water restriction announcement, and 82% at reopening in 2023. The AfDB Mahé Sustainable Water Augmentation Project assessment and the original La Gogue Water Supply Study contain historical hydrological inputs. However, no continuous time series is publicly accessible, and historical depth is limited to isolated point-in-time disclosures across a 10+ year window.

Quality dimensions for the COVERED subset are therefore 0 by definition. Original notes preserved below: Updates occur reactively through media and water restriction announcements — not on a published schedule. The 2022 AllAfrica report on severe water restrictions illustrates PUC's practice of disclosing reservoir conditions in crisis contexts. No regular bulletin, weekly report, or seasonal update exists. PUC does not publish reservoir fill percentages on a routine basis.

Quality dimensions for the COVERED subset are therefore 0 by definition. Original notes preserved below: The AfDB project documents for La Gogue provide detailed engineering parameters: dam capacity, catchment area, construction standards for the 6 m raise, and hydraulic design. GIBB Engineering is named as a project consultant with documented involvement. These documents provide meaningful methodological transparency for the infrastructure. PUC's water page describes the overall system including the 25 treatment plants and 152 distribution reservoirs. However, no operational monitoring protocol, gauge station calibration standard, or data quality procedure is publicly documented for routine reservoir management.

English and French are co-official languages of the Seychelles alongside Seychellois Creole (Kreol). PUC's website is primarily in English. AfDB project documents are available in both English and French. The trilingual official environment and full English-language access to all key documents means no language barrier exists for international researchers. Score is partial because the reactive and limited nature of data disclosure constrains usability regardless of language.