Résumé
All the activities carried out in connection with the water of Lake Guiers in Senegal potentially have significant consequences on its ecological status. This article starts from the observation that pollution by pesticides concentrates most of the debates and actions undertaken by lake managers while the nutrient enrichment of the lake water (representing a risk of eutrophication) is a problem rarely noticed. This finding leads the authors to question the socio-political factors that lead to the "invisibilization" of certain causes of aquatic environments degradation. Relying on a field survey of lake managers and users, we show the competition between the various administrative departments which lead to various forms of segmentation of the degradation causes and the selection of one of them. We then show how this formalization of the problem is disseminated and reinforced through the promotion of good agricultural practices essentially focused on the issue of phytosanitary products and relayed by territorial actors. This analysis of the institutional construction of ignorance is finally completed by a study of the representations that users have of the lake degradation, making it possible to identify the conflicts and social dynamics around appropriation of space and access to water, which lead to the invisibilization of the eutrophication problem.