South Sudan project to curb flooding could threaten crucial marshlands

Aerial view of Sudd in northern Jonglei State, South Sudan, in June 2022 (DR)

 

Almost 800,000 people have been displaced, fields have become swamped by water and entire herds of animals have been decimated. Since 2019, a cycle of unprecedented flooding has been ravaging the southern Sudanese states of Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile, far more devastating than the usual seasonal floods. The Sudd, a swampy vastness that stretches from 30,000 to 90,000 square kilometers depending on the season, erodes more and more habitable land each year. It's a catastrophic situation that has revived projects to drain the swamp. However, according to some environmentalists, there's a risk that the solution could turn out to be even worse than the problem.

Could the Sudd dry up? The scenario seems all the more unlikely since, during the rainy season, the area is completely flooded. "But look at what happened with the Aral Sea," warned John Akec, vice chancellor of the University of Juba, in the capital of South Sudan. He pointed out that the development of irrigation canals led to this large lake in Central Asia practically disappearing. "For the Sudd," he said, "we must act with caution because we don't have all the hydrological data."

According to a report by the Ministry of the Environment and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) published this year, 49 billion cubic meters of water flow into the Nile floodplain each year – a kind of basin where the Bahr Al-Jebel (to the south, from Uganda and Lake Victoria) and Bahr Al-Ghazal (to the west) basins converge. Half of this gigantic freshwater reserve evaporates and turns into rain. In the early 20^th century, this phenomenon aroused the interest of Egypt, which was then under British rule. To prevent the waters from being lost and to increase the flow of the Nile, the British and the Egyptians designed a 360-kilometer-long canal between the cities of Bor and Malakal. The project was abandoned, then relaunched in the 1970s, before being stopped by rebels led by John Garang in 1984, when there were only 70 kilometers left to dig.

'Opening up the shipping lanes'

For the people of South Sudan, who were at war with Khartoum at the time, control of the waters of the Nile is a question of sovereignty. According to the most recent estimates by the Ministry of the Environment and the UNEP, the Sudd represents an economic value of more than 3 billion dollars per year due to the "services" it provides or could provide. These include fishing, livestock breeding, papyrus paper manufacturing, ecotourism from its biodiversity and the purchase of carbon credits. Before the floods over the last three years, one million people depended on it. Agropastoral communities such as the Dinka, Nuer and Shilluk people depend on the marsh for their livelihood, and their cultures and traditions are intimately linked to it.

Classified since 2006 as a "wetland of international importance" and protected^[1] by the Ramsar Convention, the Sudd ecosystem is also home to rich biodiversity. The eco-region is in the running to join the UNESCO World Heritage list^[2], as well as the global network of biosphere reserves. The swamps are a refuge for many species of reptiles, mammals and birds, such as the shoebill (Balaeniceps rex), a large wader with only 7,000 remaining. "Unfortunately, very few people have heard of the wetlands of South Sudan and their significant contribution to climate regulation, particularly through carbon sequestration," said Julius Banda, UNSECO's director in South Sudan.

The debate was reignited in June with the arrival in the country of a large convoy carrying equipment supplied by Egypt and transported via Sudan. The equipment was intended to be used for dredging the Naam River, a tributary of the Nile that is blocked by vegetation. The deputy governor of Unity state, Tor Tungwar Kueiguong, claims this is essential.

 

A Nile shoebill, a large wading bird of which only 7,000 individuals remain, flies over the marsh near the Kuernyapuol Islands in northern Jonglei state, South Sudan, in June 2022 (FLORENCE MIETTAUX)

 

"We are the province most affected by the civil war [started in 2013 and which a peace agreement signed in 2018 is struggling to end]," he said. "About 160,000 displaced people are refugees at the UN Protection of Civilians site in Bentiu, but with the current flooding, that number has doubled. It was thought that dredging the river, which is a common thing to do, would allow the water to drain and also open up the shipping lanes. People are hungry and lives are at stake." He said the operation would bring out "islands" that allow for agriculture amidst reduced food aid due to the war in Ukraine.

'A hidden purpose'

But this argument does not convince Tag Elkhazin, an engineer by training and "observer of the Nile for more than 50 years." "I have never seen a country that starts digging up its river beds to fight floods," he said, insisting that the project to dredge the Naam River has "a hidden purpose," which is "to drain water from the Bahr-Al-Ghazal [western] basin into the main Nile so that it can flow into Egypt." According to the Sudanese-Canadian academic, the material being transported is enough to dig 12 meters into the riverbed. This is much more than is required to simply “clear out” the vegetation obstructing the flow.

The project was eventually suspended by South Sudanese President Salva Kiir. In his July 9 address to mark the 11^th anniversary of independence, the leader said he would "freeze all planned dredging activities in the Sudd until credible studies were conducted on the impact of dredging on the surrounding communities and their ecosystems." A report has been commissioned from the Ministry of the Environment.A hut used to house livestock is flooded in a village near the Kuernyapuol Islands in South Sudan in June 2022. Herders have turned to fishing to support themselves. FLORENCE MIETTAUX

Environment Ministry undersecretary Joseph Africano Bartel, who is in charge of the study, already points out that an initiative similar to the one started on the Naam had already been implemented by Egypt in 2010, near the city of Wau (west). "The Jur River has been dredged and the ponds used for agriculture in the area are now dry," the official said. "Once you dig, the water flows, and you can't get it back."

Ruot George, a "pro-dredging" journalist from Leer in the south of Unity state, said he was "disappointed," as well as critical of those who "value aquatic life more than human life." He was among the protesters arrested and detained for a few hours at the University of Juba, where a public consultation on July 8 had attracted hundreds of supporters of the preservation of the Sudd. "They did not put the same energy into helping the flood victims," he said.

Florence Miettaux(Old Fangak (South Sudan), special correspondent)

Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr^[4]; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.

References

1. ^{^} Nouvelle fenêtre (rsis.ramsar.org)
2. ^{^} Nouvelle fenêtre (whc.unesco.org)
3. ^{^} In South Sudan, concern grows over declining international aid due to war in Ukraine (www.lemonde.fr)
4. ^{^} lemonde.fr (lemonde.fr)