Jonglei Canal

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Sudd (red) and Jonglei Canal (green).
Satellite image of the sudd around which the Jonglei Canal is supposed to flow.

The Jonglei Canal is an unfinished canal project in the southern Sudanese state of Jonglei to bypass the Sudd wetland on the White Nile . Construction began in 1974, but was interrupted as a result of the war of civil secession in South Sudan . When completed, its length would have been 360 kilometers and it would have connected the cities of Bor and Malakal .

Reasons to build

Evaporation and water use

The Nile enters the Sudd with an approximate annual water flow of 43 km³ from the central African lake area , up to the northern edge of the swamp area this amount is reduced to about 23 km³. The river Sobat , which rises in the highlands of Abyssinia , alone contributes 18 km³, i. H. In the Sudd the White Nile loses 53.2 percent of its water through evapotranspiration , i.e. through direct evaporation and evaporation through plants. That is why there were the first ideas as early as 1907 to divert water in a canal past the Sudd, thereby reducing evaporation losses and supplying the additional water to the irrigation projects of Sudan, but above all Egypt. Concrete plans were drawn up between 1954 and 1959. Northern Sudan and Egypt would have benefited from the diversion , as more water would then have been transported northwards. The Sudd would have partially dried up, but huge agricultural areas in Egypt, in northern Sudan or in the Sudd area could have been cultivated.

navigability

The difficult navigation through the Sudd would also be simplified by the Jonglei Canal.

Course of construction work

The excavator "Lucy", parked since 1983

Construction began in 1974. A mobile excavator made in Lübeck , at that time the largest in the world, was used, which was nicknamed "Lucy". It had a capacity of 40,000 cubic meters per day. The canal should be 38 meters wide and 4 to 8 meters deep. Due to the Sudanese civil war that started in 1983, construction was interrupted in 1984 when the project was 70% complete. The excavator stayed in place.World icon

The government of the South Sudan autonomous region since 2005 has spoken out against the completion of the canal. Egypt in particular continues to support a resumption of the project.

Impact on the environment

Opponents of the project such as the United Nations Environment Program believe that the construction of the canal and the partial drainage of the marshland would upset the entire water balance of North Africa . Since less water would evaporate, less rain would fall - the Sudd would turn into a desert in the long term . This would deprive the ranchers in the Sudd of their livelihood.

Proponents, on the other hand, believe that the rain comes from the evaporated water of the South Atlantic anyway . In addition, more water from the sewer would be available for agriculture.

The fact that the interests of the local population were barely taken into account when the canal was built was one of the reasons why new battles for the independence of South Sudan began in 1983. Promised development projects in the canal area were hardly implemented and side canals that should have been used for irrigation on site were not dug. The central government in Khartoum put pressure on South Sudanese politicians to approve the canal and hampered the political careers of opponents of the canal. South Sudanese critics saw the project as an example of the exploitation of the south in the interests of the north.

literature

  • Paul Howell, Michael Lock, and Stephen Cobb (Eds.): The Jonglei Canal: Impact and Opportunity . Cambridge Studies in Applied Ecology and Resource Management, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2009, ISBN 9780521302869 .
  • Markus Bickel, Thomas Scheen: blood for water. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of June 13, 2013, p. 6
  • Josef Nyáry , photos: Milan Horacek: Sudan: The Moloch from Sudd. In: Geo-Magazin. Hamburg 1979.7, pp. 66-90. Informative experience report: "Sudan is experimenting with Africa's largest swamp area. A canal (Jonglei canal) is supposed to take the water from it and feed it to the Nile. But the shepherds of the Shilluk , Dinka and Nuer have to pay for this giant channel , whose way of life has dramatically changed becomes." ISSN  0342-8311

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charlie Furniss: Draining Africa's Eden . In: Geographical , April 2010
  2. ↑ Jonglei Canal Blog with numerous photos of "Lucy" on AlluringWorld.com
  3. ^ South Sudan president discusses Jonglei canal project with Egyptian officials . In: Sudan Tribune , February 13, 2008.
  4. ↑ Jonglei canal project needs to be revised, South Sudan says . In: Sudan Tribune , August 8, 2009.
  5. ^ Douglas H. Johnson: The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars . James Currey Publishers, 2003 (African Issues), ISBN 9780852553923 , p. 47 f.

Coordinates: 9 ° 21 '44.15 "  N , 31 ° 33' 5.56"  E