Baseline Assessment Report for the Nile River Basin The Aswan High Dam Nile River Ir. E Olet, Ir. Koen Roest, Dr. M. v. Mansfeld, Ir. R. Smit, Ir. P. v. Walsum Report of the NeWater project - New Approaches to Adaptive Water Management under Uncertainty www.newater.info Title Baseline assessment report for the Nile River Basin Purpose Filename Authors Ir. E Olet, Ir. Koen Roest, Dr. M. v. Mansfeld, Ir. R. Smit, Ir. P. v. Walsum Document history Current version. Changes to previous version. Date Status Final Target readership General readership Correct reference Ir. E Olet, Ir. Koen Roest, Dr. M. v. Mansfeld, Ir. R. Smit, Ir. P. v. Walsum, editors January 2006 Prepared under contract from the European Commission Contract no 511179 (GOCE) Integrated Project in PRIORITY 6.3 Global Change and Ecosystems in the 6th EU framework programme Deliverable title: Baseline assessment report for the Nile River Basin Deliverable no.: D 3.7.1 Due date of deliverable: Month 4 Actual submission date: Month 13 Start of the project: 01.01.2005 Duration: 4 years DISCLAIMER This is the Nile Basin Baseline Vulnerability Assessment for Adaptive water management under the EU Funded NeWater project. It has drawn inspiration from the works of Diana Rizzollio Karyabwite, Sharing waters of the Nile valley , and works of Mahmoud Moustafa and Francis Gichuki, 2003, Nile basin profile, 2003. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the EU Framework on Adaptive management in river basins nor the views held by the EU. Baseline Report, Nile case Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................. 6 1.1 Purpose of report ........................................................................................... 6 1.2 Data sources ................................................................................................... 6 2 Data sources ........................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Location and area .......................................................................................... 7 2.2 Topography ..................................................................................................... 9 2.3 Drainage network ......................................................................................... 11 2.3.1 The Lake Plateau ................................................................................. 11 2.3.2 The Sudd region and Central Sudan ................................................ 14 2.3.3 White Nile .............................................................................................. 15 2.3.4 Ethiopian Plateau ................................................................................. 16 2.3.5 The Main Nile ....................................................................................... 18 2.4 Climate ........................................................................................................... 19 2.5 Geology and soils ........................................................................................ 22 2.6 Plant resources ............................................................................................ 23 2.7 Fauna ............................................................................................................. 24 2.8 Socio-economic setting ............................................................................... 24 2.8.1 Demographic attributes ....................................................................... 24 2.8.2 Population Trends ................................................................................ 26 2.8.3 Education and literacy ......................................................................... 27 2.8.4 Social development indicators ........................................................... 28 2.8.5 Marco-economic attributes ................................................................. 29 2.8.6 Poverty profiles: Human development and poverty indices ......... 30 2.9 Institutional setting ....................................................................................... 33 2.9.1 Governance and organizational setting ............................................ 33 2.9.2 Policy framework .................................................................................. 33 2.9.3 Regulatory framework ......................................................................... 34 2.10 Land resources management .................................................................... 34 2.11 Water resources management .................................................................. 35 2.11.1 Surface water resources ..................................................................... 35 2.11.2 Groundwater resources ...................................................................... 43 2.11.3 Internally renewable water resources ............................................... 45 2.12 Water development ..................................................................................... 46 2.12.1 Dams and water abstraction works ................................................... 46 2.12.2 Hydropower development ................................................................... 47 2.12.3 Irrigation ................................................................................................. 49 2.13 Water use ...................................................................................................... 51 2.13.1 Agriculture ............................................................................................. 51 2.13.2 Hydropower generation ....................................................................... 51 2.13.3 Navigation ............................................................................................. 51 2.13.4 Water use by country .......................................................................... 52 2.14 Remarks on water use ................................................................................ 53 2.15 Water and health issues ............................................................................. 53 3 Challenges to Water Management ................................................................... 57 3.1 Overuse of freshwater resources .............................................................. 57 3.2 Water pollution ............................................................................................. 57 3.3 Changes in temporal and spatial availability of water resources ......... 57 3.4 Land degradation ......................................................................................... 57 3.5 Soil erosion ................................................................................................... 58 2 Baseline Report, Nile case 3.6 Water logging and salinization ................................................................... 60 3.7 Ecosystem degradation .............................................................................. 60 4 On-going initiatives .............................................................................................. 61 4.1 Challenges and Opportunities......................................................................... 61 4.2 Evolving Cooperation..................................................................................... 61 4.3 Establishment of the Nile Basin Initiative...................................................... 61 4.3.1 Developing a Shared Vision and Objectives ................................... 62 4.3.2 Pursuing Cooperative Development ................................................. 62 4.3.3 From Vision to Action: A Strategic Action Program ........................ 62 4.3.4 Riparian Consultative Process ........................................................... 63 4.3.5 Moving Towards Implementation ...................................................... 63 4.3.6 Growing Partnerships .......................................................................... 63 4.3.7 Constraints ............................................................................................ 64 4.3.8 Opportunities ........................................................................................ 64 4.4 Data, information and knowledge gaps .................................................... 64 4.4.1 Lack of capacity to manage water in an integrated manner ......... 65 4.4.2 Uneven distribution of capacity within the basin ............................. 65 4.4.3 Little interaction among water professionals in the basin .............. 65 4.4.4 Food security ........................................................................................ 65 4.4.5 Transboundary cooperation ............................................................... 66 4.5 Nile basin research priorities ...................................................................... 68 4.5.1 Integrated Water Resources Management ...................................... 68 4.5.2 Multiple Use of Upper Catchments ................................................... 68 4.5.3 Aquatic Ecosystems and Fisheries ................................................... 69 4.5.4 The Global and National Food and Water System ......................... 70 4.5.5 Crop Water Productivity Improvement ............................................. 70 Appendix 1 Nile Agreements ..............................................................................