Oil and Water in Sudan 201
Most of rural Sudan remains dependent on these traditional fuels under
dwindling forest and vegetation cover. Hydroelectricity accounts for approx-
imately 5% of energy production and petroleum consumption accounts for
12%. Sudan has exploited 53% of its estimated hydropower potential.
Valuable mineral resources may be found in most parts of Sudan. These
include gold, silver, uranium, chromite, iron, bauxite, tin, copper, zinc, iron
ore, lead manganese, granite, marble, kaolin and gypsum. The development
of the mineral wealth could expand and diversify the economic base.
However, the exploitation of these resources may create further fissures
between different groups in the country, as was the case with oil exploita-
tion. The prevailing notion of 'national resources' under the current federal
structure is more acceptable for northern communities than southern com-
munities seeking greater control and management over their resources.
Access to water contributed to the recent phase of the Sudanese conflict.
Though the River Nile traverses Sudan, water stress attributed to access and
quality of water remains high. The Nile, including its tributaries, the White
and Blue Nile and River Atbara provide domestic, industrial and large-scale
irrigation waters. There are four man-made water reservoirs including
Roseires, Sennar, Khashim El Girba and Jebel Awlia.
Due to the flat topography of most of the Sudan, there are swampy areas
that have arisen owing to slow and low movement of water especially during
the floods: the Sudd Swamp, the largest swamp in Africa, and the smaller
Machar Swamp. These swamps permit a high level of evapo-transpiration
reducing the feed to the River Nile and its subsequent flow.
Ground water resources include primarily the Nubian Sandstone, which is
shared between Libya, Egypt, Chad and Sudan. Libya, however, has
embarked on an ambitious groundwater extraction project - 'the Great Man-
Made River: This massive water development scheme draws its waters from
the Nubian Sandstone via 4 000 kilometres of underground pipelines and
2 000 kilometres of ducts from 270 wells in east-central Libya for irrigation,
domestic and industrial use in Benghazi and Sine. The Nubian Sandstone
aquifer is essentially a non-renewable resource estimated to be 15 000 years
old, having percolated down during the glaciations of northern and central
Europe. Present-day recharge rates range from minimal to nil in most pans of
the aquifer. Water stress in all four countries is high and therefore the
demand for aquifer water from the Nubian Sandstone is projected to increase
significantly, making it a potential source of trans-boundary conflict.
Furthermore, there are increasing environmental concerns over Sudan's
development of large-scale irrigation projects - such as the Gezira
Agricultural Scheme- which have resulted in high levels of siltation and
water pollution. These impacts affect the potential use and the users of resid-
ual water downstream. High levels of salinity resulting from irrigation have
likewise accelerated soil deterioration.