Video Lesson

Lesson Objectives

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

• Discuss the distribution of transboundary watercourses;
• Explain the prospects and impacts of shared rivers; and
• Describe the main features of shared rivers.

Brainstorming Questions

What makes transnational rivers different from inland confined rivers?

Draw a sketch map showing the drainage basin of Nile River (NBI).

Keywords

• Riparian countries
• Shared watercourses
• Transboundary
• NBI

Distribution of transboundary watercourses

Dear Online Learner! Transboundary Rivers are watercourses shared by two or more countries. Together with lakes, inland waters, and aquifers, they are named ‘transboundary waters’. Oceans, territorial seas, and coastal waters are not included in this category.

Worldwide, more than 263 transnational river and lake channels plus numerous trans-state aquifers are currently known to geographers.

• These 263 accounts around 60% of the world’s freshwater flows and,
•  Nearly one-half of the Earth’s terrestrial surfaces.
• Pass across the terrains of 145 nations and Support about 40% of the global population.
• About 60% of the space of Africa and South America and;
•  Nearly 40% of North and Central America falls under inter-state Rivers.
• Around 80% of the total area of 44 countries lies within international basins.
• 20 of these 44 countries are found in Africa,
• 13 in Europe,
• 7 in Asia, and four in Latin America.

Prospects and impacts of transboundary watercourses

Dear Online Learner! Internationally shared wetlands, lakes, and floodplains provide priceless ecosystem services to people as well as to local ecological systems. They also develop hydrological, social, and economic integrations among people and countries.

Exhausted, despoiled, poorly developed and unmanaged freshwater courses resulting from rapid population increase may impede sustainable development and hinder the need for partnership between main water-use segments like ‘agriculture, industry, energy, navigation, water supply, and sanitation’.

Inter-state collaborations and partnerships are the best options to address diverging interests over shared river basins. Nevertheless, shared watercourses appear to be sources of conflict and dialogue among countries despite their implanting potential for cooperation like that of Ethiopia and Egypt over the use of the Nile waters.

Features of shared river basins

Table 3.2 Sample Internationally shared River Basins

Rivers	Source	Drainage size (km2)	Flow volume (billion cubic meter)	Destination	No of riparian countries	Length (km)
Nile	Lake Victoria	3,030,700	84 BCM	Mediterranean Sea	11	6,671
Okavango	Angola	430,00	10 BCM	Namibia	4	1,100
Zambezi	Zambia	1,370,000	230 BCM	Indian Ocean	8	3000
Congo	Central Africa	3,690,000	1,250 BCM	Atlantic Ocean	11	4,700
Indus	Tibet (China)	226	226 BCM	Arabian Sea	4	2,897
Ganges	Himalaya	1,080,000	382 BCM	Bay of Bengal	4	2,600
Mekong	Tibet (China)	795,000	475 BMC	Vietnam	6	>4,800
La Plata	Eastern Andes	3,100,000	884 km3/ year	Atlantic ocean	5	>3,500
Danube	Germany	801,463	6,460 m/s	Black Sea	19	2,850
Rhine	Switzerland	200,000	2300 m3/s	Netherlands (North Sea)	9	1,320
Colorado	USA	632,000	17.14 BCM	Gulf of Cali- fornia	2	2,334
Niger	Guinea	2,230,00	30 BCM	Atlantic ocean	11	4,100
Limpopo	South Africa	414,800	–	Indian Ocean	4	1,750
Amazon	Andes Mts.	6,800,000	220, 800 m3/s	Atlantic ocean	9	6,400
Jordan	Mount Hermon (between Syria & Lebanon)	>18,103	540 million m3 per year	Dead Sea	5	360

Dams and Economic projects over the Nile Basin:

• GERD (Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam)
• Roseires: Sudan
• Sennar: Second largest dam in the world (Egypt)
• Aswan High Dam: Egypt
• Owen Falls Dam: Uganda
• Tekeze HEP project: Ethiopia
• Tana Beles (Ethiopia)
• Tis Abay (Ethiopia)
• Fincha (Ethiopia)
• Koga irrigation (Ethiopia)