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Ruvyironza River

Coordinates: 3°20′38″S 29°59′33″E / 3.34391°S 29.99238°E / -3.34391; 29.99238
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Ruvyironza River
Ruvyironza River is located in Burundi
Ruvyironza River
Native nameRivière Ruvyironza (French)
Location
CountryBurundi
CountryTanzania
Physical characteristics
SourceMount Kikizi
 • locationBurundi
 • coordinates3°54′47″S 29°50′23″E / 3.91297°S 29.83960°E / -3.91297; 29.83960
MouthRuvuvu River
 • location
Kagera Region
 • coordinates
3°20′38″S 29°59′33″E / 3.34391°S 29.99238°E / -3.34391; 29.99238
Length182.4 km (113.3 mi)

The Ruvyironza (or Luvironza) River (French: rivière Ruvyironza) is a river in Burundi, the main tributary of the Ruvubu River. Its headwaters are the most remote source of the Nile when measured by river length from the Nile's mouth.

Course

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The Ruvyironza rises in the east of Bururi Province to the west of Mount Kikizi (2,145 metres (7,037 ft)).[1] It forms near Kiryama and the RIG6 / RP83 junction, where its tributaries the Nyabuyugi and Kibazwa come together.[2] It flows northwest to the border with Gitega Province. It follows part of the border between these two provinces, then flows through Gitega Province to the border with Mwaro Province, and follows the Mwaro-Gitega border north before turning east and again crossing Gitega Province to its mouth on the Ruvubu River.[1] Most of the rivers in the Nile Basin portion of Burundi flow into the Ruvubu or its main tributary, the Ruvyironza.[3]

Source of the Nile

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The Luvironza River is the source of the Nile in the sense that it is in the Nile basin, and the distance by river from its headwater to the mouth of the Nile is 6,671 kilometres (4,145 mi), longer than the distance from any other headwater.[4][a] It is a tributary of the Ruvubu River, a tributary of the Kagera River, which flows in Lake Victoria. From there, the river takes different names as it flows north: the Victoria Nile, Albert Nile, Bahr al Jabal, White Nile and north of Khartoum the Nile.[6][4]

Environment

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The surroundings of the upper Ruvyironza are mainly savannah.[7] The area is quite densely populated, with 239 inhabitants per square kilometer as of 2016.[8] The average annual temperature in the area is 20 °C (68 °F). The warmest month is September, when the average temperature is 23 °C (73 °F), and the coldest is April, with 18 °C (64 °F).[9] Average annual rainfall is 1,137 millimetres (44.8 in). The wettest month is December, with an average of 199 millimetres (7.8 in) of precipitation, and the driest is July, with 1 millimetre (0.039 in) of precipitation.[10]

At Nyabiraba in central Gitega Province the Ruvyironza has a 728 square kilometres (281 sq mi) drainage basin, with average flow of 10 cubic metres per second (350 cu ft/s). Annual preciptiation is 1,209 millimetres (47.6 in) and average temperature is 17.8 °C (64.0 °F).[11] The laws regarding the public hydraulic zones are not respected in any of the Ruvubu watersheds, but particluarly along the Ruvyironza. This results in frequent landslides of the unprotected river banks.[12]

Marshes

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The Ruvyironza basin contains 8,425 hectares (20,820 acres) of marshes, of which 7,310 hectares (18,100 acres), or 87%, were exploited for agriculture by 1998.[13] The Ruvyironza flows along the eastern boundary of the Commune of Gishubi in Gitega, separting it from the Commune of Makebuko. The Kanyangwa River flows through Gishubi to join it from the west (left). The marshes of these two rivers are used for farming year round. The soil in this section of the river is not very fertile, and the farmers must use fertilizer.[14]

In December 2015 torrential rains in the Commune of Mutaho, Gitega Province, devastated fields in the marshes of the Ruvubu and Ruvyironza rivers. Crops of beans, corn and sweet potatoes that had already been planted were lost.[15] In April 2024 extensive flooding in the Ruvyironza River valley destroyed several hectares of crops in the Commune of Nyabihanga, Mwaro Province. The bridge linking the Commune of Nyabihanga to the Commune of Gitega was at risk of collapse.[16]

Hydroelectricity

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The Ruvyironza power station is in Gitega Province, northeast of the city of Gitega, facing Karuzi Province over the Ruvubu River. It is fed by a canal running south from a dam on the Ruvyironza River near its mouth on the Ruvubu River. It discharges into the Ruvubu River.[17] The Ruvyironza plant, owned by REGIDESO Burundi, was commissioned in 1980/1984.[18] Power is supplied by three 425 KW turbines, delivering 1275 KW when all three are running, or 850 KW when just two are operational.[19]

A 2012 report by the Ministry for Energy and Mines stated that potential developments on the Ruvyironza (Luvi 047, 039, 012) might be able to deliver 21.2MW.[20]

Notes

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  1. ^ The Blue Nile contributes much more water to the Nile than the White Nile. An approach that went upstream from the mouth of the Nile, always following the branches with the greatest flow, would give a source in Ethiopia.[5]

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Relation: Ruvyironza (5392957).
  2. ^ Bururi USDMA.
  3. ^ Document d’orientation strategique, p. 11.
  4. ^ a b River Nile Geocities.
  5. ^ Vijverberg, Sibbing & Dejen 2009, pp. 163ff.
  6. ^ Nile Encarta.
  7. ^ nasalandcover.
  8. ^ nasapop.
  9. ^ nasa.
  10. ^ nasarain.
  11. ^ Ntungumburanye & Nindamutsa 2018, p. 34.
  12. ^ Document d’orientation strategique, p. 42.
  13. ^ Schema directeur d’amenagement, p. 20.
  14. ^ Presentation de la Commune Gishubi.
  15. ^ Des champs dévastés.
  16. ^ Ndabashinze 2024.
  17. ^ Centrale hydroélectrique Rushanga.
  18. ^ Nsabimana 2022, p. 40.
  19. ^ Ruvyironza Energypedia.
  20. ^ Investment opportunities in renewable energy, p. 37.

Sources

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  • "Centrale hydroélectrique Rushanga", OpenStreetMap, retrieved 2024-08-15
  • "Des champs dévastés par les pluies torrentielles à Mutaho", Isanganiro (in French), 10 December 2015, retrieved 2024-09-06
  • Document d’orientation strategique d’amenagement des bassins versants et de lutte antierosive (PDF) (in French), Gitega: Ministere de l’environnement, de l’agriculture et de l’elevage, March 2022, retrieved 2024-09-06
  • Investment opportunities in renewable energy Burundi (PDF), Minister for Energy and Mines, October 2012, retrieved 2024-08-31
  • NASA Earth Observations: Population Density, NASA/SEDAC, archived from the original on 9 February 2016, retrieved 30 January 2016
  • NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index, NASA, archived from the original on 11 May 2020, retrieved 30 January 2016 Temperature data from satellite measurements of the earth's surface temperature within a box that is 0.1×0.1 degrees
  • NASA Earth Observations: Rainfall (1 month - TRMM), NASA/Tropical Rainfall Monitoring Mission, archived from the original on 19 April 2019, retrieved 30 January 2016 Average value for the years 2012–2014 within a box that is 0.1×0.1 degrees
  • NASA Earth Observations: Land Cover Classification, NASA/MODIS, archived from the original on 28 February 2016, retrieved 30 January 2016
  • Ndabashinze, Rénovat (9 April 2024), "Nyabihanga : Une partie des riverains de la Ruvyironza dans la désolation totale", Iwacu (in French), retrieved 2024-09-06
  • "Nile", Encarta online encyclopedia, archived from the original on 2008-05-13, retrieved 2019-11-19
  • Nsabimana, René (September 2022), Quality of service and access to electricity in Burundi and East Africa, a comparison of sector performance (PDF), University of Liège, retrieved 2024-08-15
  • Ntungumburanye, Gérard; Nindamutsa, Astère (November 2018), Etude de vulnerabilite et d’adaptation aux changements climatiques (PDF) (in French), Ministère de l’Environnement, de l’Agriculture et de l’Elevage, retrieved 2024-09-06
  • Presentation de la Commune Gishubi (in French), Gitaga government, retrieved 2024-09-06
  • "Relation: Ruvyironza (5392957)", OpenStreetMap, retrieved 2024-09-05
  • River Nile, Geocities, retrieved 2024-09-05
  • "Ruvyironza", Energypedia, retrieved 2024-08-15
  • Schema directeur d’amenagement et de mise en valeur des marais (PDF) (in French), Bujumbura: Ministère de l’Aménagement du Territoire et de l’Environnement, September 2000, retrieved 2024-09-06
  • U.S. Defense Mapping Agency (1994), Bururi (PDF), University of Texas at Austin, retrieved 2024-09-05
  • Vijverberg, Jacobus; Sibbing, Ferdinand A.; Dejen, Eshete (2009), "Lake Tana: Source of the Blue Nile", The Nile, Monographiae Biologicae, vol. 89, Dordrecht: Springer, pp. 163–192, doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-9726-3_9, ISBN 978-1-4020-9726-3
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