RIVER NILE INFOGRAPHIC

RIVER NILE

HYDROLOGY

References: Whc.unesco.org, Hoddereducation, BBC, climate.gov,atlasnilebasin.org, brttainica, foregin affaris

between 1912 and 1982 at Aswan dam

Nile Length

Average discharfe

Nile Basin Size

Koppen Climate Classification System

3,400,000km2

6,650km

84.2billion m3/yr

Two major sources: White Nile of lake Victoria (2400m high) and Blue Nile of Lake Tana Ethopia. The mouth is the Medditerrean Sea in Egypt.

Climate Zones:

Subtropical arid desert climate zone- low-latitude desert evaporation exceeds precipitaion on average. Average temp less than 18C.

Egypt- Relies on Nile for 90% of their water. Egypt and Sudan have control over most of the Nile after 1929 and1959 treaties but doesnt provide much water allowance for other coutires. Ethopia want to bypass the treaty in 2011 and build a dam anyway but Egypt is against this

Sudan- plans to build two dams across the Nile for eectricity if allowed by Egypt.

White Nile is the longer tributary 3,700km

Blue Nile contains 80% of water and silt

MId-latitude dry semi-arid steppe- Evaportaion exceeds precipitation on average .Average temp 18C.

Ethopia-The construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam began in 2011 bypassing the Nile Waters Agreement.

Tropical wet and dry- Winter dry season. There are more than two months with less than 60mm. All average temp less than 18C.

Uganda-Aims to ratify the Nile Waters Agreement so they can continue development of agriculture with access to enough water

The Blue and White Nile meet North of sudanese capital Khartoum

Tropical wet- No dry season. Rainfall is generally distributed throughout year. All average monthly temp greater than 18C.

Conflict

Tanzania- 80% of popuation are invlved in agriculture so they need sufficient water for irrigation which may be stopped by dams uostream.

THE SUDD

• GERD- Grand renaissance Dam in Ethopia affects all countires downstream including Sudan and Egypt and bypasses the Nile Waters Agreement. This greatly increases the water scarity for Sudan and Egypt causing large political disputes due to how reliant they are on water for agriculture.
• Senner dam- the Senner Dam and the two Dams being built in South Sudan will cause greater water insecurity for Egypt althoguh they do have the Nile Waters Agreement.

NILE BASIN INCLUDES:

The Sudd is a vast swamp in South Sudan and large solid floating vegetation.Area 57,000km2 can fluctuate between 90,00km2 in wet season and 42,000km2 in dry season. Sustained by white nile flow and rain runoff. 1million people inhabit sudd wetland region.Approximately half the water entering the Sudd is lost due to evaporation, seepage and overflow into wetlands.

• Blue Nile: Drainage Basin 324,000km2
• White Nile: 1.8 million km2

1. Egypt
2. Sudan
3. South Sudan
4. Ethopia
5. Uganda
6. Democratic Republic of Congo
7. Kenya
8. Tanzania
9. Burundi
10. Rwanda

China have granted $652 million in loans to Ethopia in 2017, with Chinese companies such as Chinese gezhouba group to speed up development of the GERD and surrounding facilitites.China also provided a loan of $1.2 billion in 2013 to impove surrounding facilities, like power lines.

Nile Waters Agreement:

CHINAS ROLE

The 1959 Nile Waters Agreement between Sudan and Egypt for full control utilization of Nile Waters includes:

GERD

• The controversy on the quantity of average annual Nile flow was settled and agreed to be about 84 billion cubic meters measured at Aswan High Dam, in Egypt.
• The agreement allowed the entire average annual flow of the Nile to be shared among the Sudan and Egypt at 18.5 and 55.5 billion cubic meters.
• Annual water loss due to evaporation and other factors were agreed to be about 10 billion cubic meters. This quantity would be deducted from the Nile yield before share was assigned to Egypt and Sudan.
• If the claim prevails and the Nile water has to be shared with another state, that allocated amount would be deducted from the Sudan’s and Egypt’s and allocations/shares in equal parts of Nile volume measured at Aswan.
• The agreement granted Egypt the right to construct the Aswan High Dam that can store the entire annual Nile River flow of a year.
• It granted the Sudan to construct the Rosaries Dam on the Blue Nile and, to develop other irrigation and hydroelectric power generation until it fully utilizes its Nile share.
• A Permanent Joint Technical Commission to be established to secure the technical cooperation between them.

The Grand Ethopian Renaissance Dam started construction April 2011 and finished in July 2020, costing $5 billion USD, its' volume is 10,200,000m3. It has created the Milenuem resevior which allows Ethopia to mantain a more consistent water source compared to the variable discharge from the Nile, which supports Ethopia's agriculture industry and the hydroelectric power is now the backbone of Ethopia's national grid. However the reservior has led to 5,110 people having to be resettled from the surrounding area and the dam will change the fish ecology drastically. The dam will also reduce discharge downstream supposedly causing a 25% decrease in electricity in Egypt's Aswan Dam whilst the GERD was being constructed and a continued reduction after.The GERD will cause a 3metre reduction in water level in Lake Nasser in Sudan reducing current evaportion levels of more than 10 billion m3/yr

MAJOR PLAYERS

China- Financed GERD

Upstream nations(e.g Ethopia,Democratic republic of Congo,Uganda)S-Grand European Renaissance Dam(GERD) on Blue Nile River in Ethopia

Egypt- Agriculture is 1/8 of their GDP but Egypt have also installed the Aswan Dam(1902) and Aswan High Dam(1970) for hydroelectric power and protect Egypt from variations in Nile Floods.

Fishermen- Dams reduce fish population and restrict them to certain areas

Annual Discharge Patterns:

Nile dishcagre rises quickly from late June and peaks in late august or early september.Dependent on intesity of summer monsoon as it is a key control on flood magnitude which differs year to year. The El Nino Southern Oscillation(ENSO) is has large effect on annual discharge: high summer rainfall and bigger floods in La Nina years, dry years with summer floods are during El Nino Years.

Sudan- Senner Dam built for hydroelectric power on Blue Nile

Farmers- The availability of water and high temperatures makes the land nearby the Nile perfect for agriculture(despite variations in precipitation) which is why many towns and cities are located close to the nile down its' course