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Full Description
The vast area of swamp and wetlands of the Southern Sudan, the Sudd, absorbs and dissipates by evaporation about half the inflow from the upper catchment of the White Nile. Ways and means of reducing these losses by canalisation have been under engineering investigation since the beginning of the twentieth century, the objective being to provide additional water for irrigation and hydro-electric power in Egypt and the northern Sudan. Construction of the Jonglei Canal began in 1977; at the end of 1983 it was halted by civil war, 260 kilometre from its outfall and 100 kilometres short of completion. In the area through which it passes it will, if ever completed, have varied local effects; it will reduce the seasonally river-flooded grasslands, which are of crucial importance to the pastoral sector of the local economy and cut the line of seasonal migration of man, livestock and wildlife. Yet it will bring benefits and opportunities as well as adverse effects. Based on scientific studies of the area carried out in the early 1950s and again between 1978 and 1983, the aim of the book is to present a multi-disciplinary survey of the very complex interrelated hydrological, ecological, biological and human problems involved.
Contents
Introduction; Part I. Controlling the Nile: 1. The genesis of the Jonglei canal; 2. The Jonglei Canal Project: stage one; 3. Water use and demand in the Nile Basin; Part II. The Natural Environment of the Sudd Region: 4. The influence of Lake Victoria: climatic change and variation in river flows; 5. Hydrology of the Bahr el Jebel swamps; 6. The biological effects of variation in water quality; 7. Ecology of plants in the swamps and floodplains; 8. Vegetation change in the Jonglei area; Part III. The People of the Jonglei Area: Introduction; 9. Environment and the history of the Jonglei area; 10. Society and rural economy in the Jonglei area; 11. Recent change among Nuer and Dinka peoples of the Jonglei area; Part IV. Agriculture and the Exploitation of Natural Resources: 12. Livestock and animal husbandry; 13. Crop production: traditional practice, constraints and opportunities; 14. Fish and fisheries; 15. Wildlife; Part V. The Local Effects of the Canal: 16. Effects on climate, water and vegetation; 17. Effects on livestock, fish and wildlife; 18. Local effects in the canal zone; Part VI. Rural Development and the Future: 19. Rural development, 1972-83: a decade of unfulfilled promise; 20. Conclusions: looking to the future; Appendices; Epilogue; References; Index.
