Shebelle River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shebelle River | |
|---|---|
| Origin | near 7°13′12″N 39°27′59″E / 7.2201°N 39.4665°E |
| Mouth | Dries up near 0°09′57″N 42°46′22″E / 0.1659°N 42.7727°ECoordinates: 0°09′57″N 42°46′22″E / 0.1659°N 42.7727°E, occasionally continues into Jubba River |
| Basin countries | Ethiopia Somalia |
The Shebelle River (Somali: Webi Shabeelle) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu the river becomes seasonal. Most years the river dries up near the mouth of the Jubba River, while in seasons of heavy rainfall the river actually reaches the Jubba and thus the Indian Ocean.
Its name comes from the Somali language, Wabi Shabeelle meaning "Leopard/Tiger River". According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the Shebelle River is 1130 kilometers long, extending for 1000 kilometers inside Ethiopia and 130 inside Somalia. The river gives its name to the Somali administrative regions of Shabeelle River, consisting of Shabeellaha Dhexe and Shabeellaha Hoose.
In the past, the area of Shebelle River was very much affected by diseases transmitted by tsetse flies, but they seems now to be eradicated at least in some parts of the Shebelle Valley.
Contents |
[edit] Tributaries
The Shebelle has a number of tributaries, both seasonal and permanent rivers. They include:
The Fafen only reaches the Shebelle in times of flood; its stream usually fails before reaching the main river.
[edit] History
The source of the Shebelle River is venerated by both the Arsi Oromo and the Sidamo people. It is surrounded by a sacred enclosure wooded with juniper trees, which as of 1951 was under the protection of a Muslim member of the Arsi.[1]
In 1989 with the help of Soviet engineers, the Melka Wakena dam was built on the upper reaches of the Shebelle River in the Bale Mountains. Producing 153 megawatts, this dam is Ethiopia’s largest hydroelectric generator.[2]
The recent history of the Shabelle is marked by frequent destructive flooding. The Shabelle is said to have flooded every other year prior to the 1960s; that decade had only two devastating floods, the hidigsayley in 1965, and the soogudud in 1966. In the 1970s, the most devastating flood was the kabahay of 1978.[3] In 1996, floods devastated three woredas in Ethiopia. On 23 October 1999, the river unexpectedly flooded in the middle of the night, destroying homes and crops in 14 out of the 117 kebeles in Kelafo woreda, as well as 29 of the 46 kebeles in neighboring Mustahil woreda. According to the local authorities, 34 people and an estimated 750 livestock died, with 70,000 affected by the floods and in need of assistance.[4] Two more recent floods was the dawdle in 2003, when about 100 livestock and 119 people were washed away, and the flood of April 2005, when about 30,000 persons were surrounded by floodwaters and 2000 camels and 4000 shoats had been washed away by flood; some locals consider this the worst flood in 40 years.[3]
In late April 2005, heavy rains generated widespread flooding throughout Somali Region, Ethiopia as well as Somalia, and caused the Shebelle River to burst its banks. In May of that year, the flooding in the Somali Region alone had caused over 100 confirmed deaths and widespread property damage affecting over 100,000 persons. The floods have also destroyed shelters housing 25,000 Somali refugees in Kenya.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 260.
- ^ Lulseged Ayalew, "Something that We Need to Know about Our River’s Hydropower Potential". Accessed 20 April 2006
- ^ a b Ayele Gebre-Mariam, The Critical Issue of Land Ownership, Working Paper No. 2 (Bern: NCCR North-South, 2005), pp. 35f (accessed 19 January 2009)
- ^ "Drought and Floods: Stress Livelihoods and Food Security in the Ethiopian Somali Region" UNDP Emergencies Unit for Ethiopia report, dated November 1999 (accessed 28 December 2008)
[edit] External links
- ReliefWeb: Somalia Integrated Phase Classification Maps (as of Sep 2008)
- Somali Bantu - Their History and Culture: Land
- Bale Mountains National Park
- Map of the Shebelle River basin at Water Resources eAtlas
- Hydropolitics in the Horn of Africa
- "Ethiopia: Rains pound Somali region as death toll rises", IRIN, 5 May 2005
- "Floods plague Horn of Africa, wash away refugee shelters" - UN News
|
|||||
