The main village of the commune, Diamarabougou, is on the right bank adjacent to the dam which also serves as an important road bridge.

The French colonial authorities constructed the dam between 1934 and 1945 to irrigate farmland with the intention of producing cotton for the textile industry.

It diverts water into a canal system that extends 135 km to the north past the small towns of Niono and Sokolo in the 'Delta Mort' region.

Each year around 2.7 km3 of water is diverted from the river, which corresponds to 8.3 percent of the total flow.

The scheme is managed by the Office du Niger and in 1999/2000 produced 320,000 tons of rice, representing 40 percent of the total Malian production.