The southern basin of Lake Chad, fed by the Chari and Logone river system, is permanently flooded. Since the early 1970s, the northern basin of the lake has been fed only by overflows from the southern basin and minor inflows from the Komadugu Yobe River. This hydraulic functioning defines the stage of Little Chad. While the water level in the southern basin is quite reproducible from one year to the next, that of the northern basin is very variable, with the possibility of total drying during dry years. During a year of "normal" water conditions in Little Chad, the area seasonally flooded in the northern basin of the lake is an important element in the production of natural resources, with the possibility of recession cultivation over a large tidal zone, livestock breeding and especially fishing, thanks to the aquatic productivity in the vast ecotone created. Concerned with safeguarding the sustainability of the lake, the member states of the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) continue to defend the Ubangui-Chari connection project to Lake Chad, which has sprouted since the 1990s. It involves transferring part of the waters of the Ubangui Basin, a tributary of the Congo River, to Lake Chad through various developments (dams, pumping, channeling, etc.) via the Chari River. Given the likely impact of climate change on the agricultural productivity, it would be useful to reconsider water management at the scale of the entire Lake Chad basin. © 2022 American Geophysical Union.