Jonglei Canal

The Jonglei Canal is an unfinished canal project in the South Sudanese state of Jonglei, which should bypass the Sudd wetland on the White Nile. Its construction began in 1974, but was interrupted as a result of the Civil War in South Sudan. Its length would be 360 ​​kilometers for perfection and he had the cities of Bor and Malakal connected.

Reasons for building

Evaporation and water use

The Nile enters with a originating from the central African lakes area approximate annual water flow of 43 cubic kilometers in the Sudd, to the northern edge of the swamp, this amount is reduced to about 23 km ³. Of which contributes only the Sobat River, which rises in the highlands of Abyssinia, 18 km ³, that is, the White Nile loses in the Sudd 53.2 percent of its water through evapotranspiration, ie by direct evaporation and transpiration from plants. Therefore, there have been since 1907, first ideas, bypassing its water in a channel on the Sudd, thereby reducing the evaporation losses and the extra water but mainly to supply the irrigation projects of the Sudan, Egypt. Concrete plans have been drawn up in the years 1954 to 1959. From the diversion of the northern Sudan and Egypt would have benefited because more water would then have been transported northward. The Sudd, however, would thereby partially dried out, it would have huge agricultural land in Egypt, can be farmed in northern Sudan or in the Sudd area itself.

Navigability

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

Course of the construction work

In 1974 started the construction. It was also an established in Lübeck mobile excavators, at that time the largest in the world to use. It had a capacity of 40,000 cubic meters per day. The channel is to be 38 meters wide and 4-8 meters deep. Due to the Sudanese civil war began in 1983, the building was, however, interrupted in 1984 and the project has been completed by 2009 only 70%.

The government of the autonomous region of Southern Sudan since 2005, has spoken out against the completion of the canal. Above all, Egypt continues to support a resumption of the project.

Effects on the environment

Opponents of the project as the environmental program of the United Nations believe that the construction of the canal and the partial draining of the swamp would bring all the water balance of North Africa from the equilibrium. The Sudd turned the long term to the desert. Because less water evaporated, would fall less rain. Thus, the livelihood of ranchers would withdrawn in the Sudd.

Proponents, however, believe that the rain anyway come from the evaporated water of the South Atlantic. In addition, more water from the canal agriculture would be available.

That the interests of the local population were hardly taken into account in the construction of the canal, was one of the reasons why in 1983 renewed fighting for the independence of South Sudan began. Promised development projects in the channel region were hardly implemented, and side channels that have the irrigation site should serve, have not been dug. The central government in Khartoum exerted pressure on South Sudanese politicians to agree to the canal, and disabled the political career of opponents of the channel. South Sudanese critics saw this project as an example of the exploitation of the South in the interest of the North.