Lack of maintenance of Sudan’s Jebel Aulia dam threatens life of many

Report by Elnoor Abdallah

The thousands of people who lost their mudbrick homes in Elgezira Aba in the end of last year, due to flooding of the White Nile, are not the only victims of the high-water level, mainly caused by the lack of operations of the Jebel Aulia dam, south of Khartoum, as farming in White Nile state is also seriously affected. Experts warn for more flooding if the dam is not maintained soon.

The more than 16,000 newly displaced are living rough in a makeshift camp outsidethis large island in the White Nile, some 250 kilometres south of Khartoum. The needs are high, and deceases are spreading. Sudanese charity organisations and volunteers are providing basic food aid.

Other residents of the island and those who earlier sought refuge there from the violence in their places of origin after war broke out between the army and the RSF nearly two years ago, are also suffering from diseases, such as cholera and malaria. The Sudanese Red Crescent has distributed purification tablets to the people living on the island, as the floods also affected the operations of the local water purification plant. The only hospital on Elgezira Aba is manned by one doctor and is in dire need of medicines. 

The large island in the White Nile, with a population of around 105.000 people, was among the most affected areas after the river’s water level rose to more than fourmeters in November. Other areas near the river were also flooded. After continuing and persistent call for help, retired engineers volunteered to enter the Jebel Aulia damand open the water gates in end December, after which the water receded quickly, and a major disaster had been averted.

Jebel Aulia dam

Last year, Sudanese experts warned more than once of the consequences of deteriorated security situation near the Jebel Aulia dam in the northern part of the White Nile. Maintenance stopped since battles between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took place in the area in end 2023.

The Jebel Aulia dam, 44 kilometres south of central Khartoum, was established in 1937, to raise the water level on the banks of the White Nile south of the dam and facilitate mechanic irrigation during the agricultural season in El Gezira and White Nile state.

However, the required maintenance of the dam stopped since the RSF took control of the area in November 2023, as engineers could not reach the area anymore. This led to serious concerns about the possibility to irrigate White Nile state farms, freelance journalisted Elnoor Abdallah reported last week on El Jaser online news

In mid-August last year, Yousef El Hasani, head of the White Nile Farmers Association said in an urgent call to White Nile state Governor Omar El Khalifa and to the RSF Command that the state’s farms and agricultural projects depending on irrigation during the winter season were threatened because of the low level of the Nile water.

Engineers and technicians “need regular access to the Jebel Aulia dam reservoir to carry out their technical work to maintain the operational system and adjust the water levels according to irrigation needs levels in the agricultural areas south of the dam,” he stated.

El Hasani further noted that “all water revenues allocated to agricultural projects south of the dam, including the large national sugar production facilities in the White Nile [the Kenana, White Nile, and the Asalaya sugar plants], will all go north”. If the engineers are not able to access the operation system of the Jebel Aulia dam, “the damage for agriculture south of the dam reservoir will be very large,” he warned.

“We, farmers in irrigated projects and good citizens, launch this appeal to the two [warring] parties, to remedy the matter and coordinate with the irrigation department so they can send engineers and their safety is ensured when they are working on this facility – similar to the coordination that took place to maintain affected facilities such as communication services, electricity, and water in several areas of armed conflict. In this way, we will be able to catch up with the agricultural season for the summer and winter of 2024,” the White Nile Farmers Association said.

Expert concerns

The White Nile Organisation for Resource Development has been following the consequences of the situation at the Jebel Aulia dam since fighting broke out in the area in 2023 and has been seeking ways to arrange a safe access for engineers, technicians and workers to the dam reservoir to adjust the water levels by controlling the necessary drainage.

The organisation has more than once urged the government of White Nile state to take steps and has called on the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Horn of Africa’s Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the African Union to intervene and help out.

Economist and former Minister of Investment El Hadi Ibrahim believes that a speedy return to the regular operation of the Jebel Aulia dam is not only needed for a successful agricultural season in central Sudan, but also for “warding off the great riskof the collapse of the vital dam reservoir”. 

“The collapse of the dam resulting from the ongoing conflict may lead to the destruction of areas along the White Nile including in the national capital and other places on the riverbank.

In in November last year, rumours circulated about the destruction of the entire dam after the Sudanese army drones bombed the Jebel Aulia “scaffold bridge” of the Jabal Awlia reservoir.

Former White Nile state Minister of Agriculture, Fatima Abdelkarim, however reported at the time that “the body of the main reservoir is intact. What has been destroyed is the crane that controls the gates of the reservoir” and reassured that it could be repaired. 

She further warned that investors are reluctant to invest in agricultural projects in White Nile state, due to the security situation and the delay in irrigation in the northern parts of the state.

Earlier, Tajeldin El Khazin, chief consultant at the Sub-Saharan Africa Center, had warned of the danger coming from the source of the White Nile, Lake Victoria, in Uganda, after more than average rainfall in the region last year. He explained that the Jebel Aulia was built to regulate water only, without storage facilities, and warned that areas of at least 40 kilometres inland of the White Nile would be flooded. 

If the water pressure on the dam will be too high, the gates may collapse, and the water sweep the houses at the White Nile banks in Omdurman and Khartoum.