Tana River (Kenya)

Satellite image of the Tana Valley

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Tana is Kenya's largest river. Along its length there are different information between 700 and 1000 kilometers - a consequence of the fact that his start in the area of ​​year-round snow -capped Mount Kenya massif is not clearly determined.

Geography

The Tana flows to the east of Mount Kenya massif first north, then bends to the east and turns to the southeast, to finally reach the Indian Ocean after a long walk through dry bush and semi- desert area in the Ungwana Bay. The river has numerous in the area of ​​Mount Kenya massif rapids and waterfalls. Later he meanders quietly through the landscape. However, it can also be used in its lower part, still places for white water rafting.

And the eleven -square-mile Tana River Primate National Reserve, in which, among other things, two endemic species of monkeys here ( the Tana Red Colobus and the Tana Mangabe ) as well as 262 bird and 57 mammal species is living on the banks of the river. This project suffers claims to the World Bank under the effects of river regulation. There is also in this National Park conflicts with the indigenous population, which sees itself distributed.

At the Tana also borders on the Kora National Park, where George Adamson ( "Born Free" ) lived up to his murder in 1989 by Somali poachers.

Energy

With seven dams and five power plants, funded by the World Bank and national governments, the man has intervened massively and with considerable expense in the river's ecosystem. The river is crucial for the power supply of the country, especially the capital, Nairobi. Environmentalists complain about the expulsion of the native population by the Kiambere dam as well as the completely failed in force Buru Irrigation Project, which is a drought landscape today.

Hydrometrie

The flow rate of the river was about 250 kilometers upstream measured over 41 years ( 1934-75 ) in Garissa, a city of the mouth. The observed in Garissa mean annual flow rate during this period was 155 m³ / s

The average monthly flow of the river Tana measured at the hydrological station of Garissa ( in m³ / s) ( Calculated using the data for a period of 41 years, 1934-75 )

Pictures

The Tana 1998