Blue Nile River Case Study

The population in this basin has a high growth rate meaning that there's rapid increase in population. The challenge is to have adequate food and water quantities for this increasing population Water Allocation Blue nile River contributes 60-69% of the water in the River Nile. For decades the allocation of the waters in this basin has been controversial and is still an issue that needs to be solved inorder to avoid conflicts between the countries.

2. Water Allocation

Blue nile River contributes 60-69% of the water in the River Nile. For decades the allocation of the waters in this basin has been controversial and is still an issue that needs to be solved inorder to avoid conflicts between the countries.

3. Water Pollution

Agricultural practices

Few Energy Sources

The upper Blue Nile region has untapped potential for hydropower development and extension. This also means that a big portion of the population does not have access to electricity and will rely on wood fuel for their daily cooking and heating [1] . According to Tegenu 2006, 94% of Ethiopians living in the BNB lack access to electricity. The BNB has abundant water resources and hydropower potential, especially on the upper (Ethiopian side) but only 3% has been developed [2] .

5. Institutional Challenge

The Blue Nile Basin, being shared by two countries, Sudan and Ethiopia, has had many challenges in land and water management because there are policy and institutional gaps. There is need for institutional arrangements to be built across different scales (from local to international) which will buid trust, facilitate exchange of information and enable effective monitoring required for success in water resources management.

6. Financial Challenge

The basin has plenty of farming activities and also implies that the large population in this basin are farmers. Financing for land and water management practices is expensive and the farmers are not able to do it.

7. Insufficient River Water

Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile River, and its importance cannot be overlooked. The Blue Nile River is an important source of irrigation water for farmers in this basin. The river is also source of drinking water for the people and especially important for the city of Khartoum. Waters of Blue Nile river have been dammed and used in production of electricity. The basin has national parks, wildlife reserves and nature conservation areas that have plenty of plants and animal life, some which are endemic and endangered [4]. The natural resources of the BNB are important for the socio-economic development of the area because the basin population depends on it for subsistence and livelihoods. The basin has areas (Ethiopian Highlands) with high occurence of endemic species of birds and large mammals. This area is part of the globally significant Eastern Afromontane biodiversity hotspot. BNB has forests eg Lembwa and El-Gazair forest reserves in Senna state, Sudan. Forests act as ground water recharge areas, source of rivers and streams, source of wood fuel, carbon sinks, home to wildlife and birds etc. Occurence of water falls in the highlands is a potential tourist attraction site. Fig 1 shows the Blue Nile