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A Trip Down the Nile

The Nile River originates in the highlands of Ethiopia and Sudan where regular rainfall feeds tributaries of the Nile, as seen in the red outlined area. Seasonally, the intense monsoon< a season of reversed wind patterns that bring increased precipitation> rains cause predictable flooding along the course of the river.   

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC retrieved from: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=3708

Take a look at these images. What differences do you see between January (on the left) and August (on the right)? The flood season of the Nile River lasts from June through September. Somewhere in between a disaster and a blessing, fluctuations in these seasonal floods create a familiar comparison to Goldilocks and her three bowls of porridge. Too little flooding will not bring enough water to spill the Nile’s banks into the agricultural lands that require this floodwater and the nutrients it provides. Too much flooding will spill waters beyond agricultural lands into many human settlements. However, the right amount of flooding brings the perfect mix of nutrient rich water into agricultural lands and spares human settlements from disastrous flooding.   

The relationship between humans and the Nile is so strong that, when you consider the distribution of population in the north Sudan, nearly all of its people live along the White Nile. In a desert location like this, humans cling to the river as the only lifeline providing the resources needed for survival. Above the Sudan-Egypt border sits the Aswan High Dam, the largest hydroelectric dam in Egypt. Creation of this dam in the 1960s forced the relocation of  over 100 000 people and submerged archeological sites.  The dam’s creation is linked to soil changes and health problems. Most importantly, it has altered the seasonal flooding patterns that have existed for over 5000 years.

Beyond the dam, the winding Nile supports intense agricultural lands and human settlements that rest purposefully on its floodplain. This pattern of river development spans the entire length of the the Nile until it reaches Cairo. There, the river’s delta spreads waters out in a vast apron into the Mediterranean sea.