Dry rivers of Africa

Dry rivers in Africa refers to streams which bed is either above the water table or which are only intermittently parched. They often serve as the main sources of water during the rainy season, and their floodplains can support a diverse range of wildlife and vegetation.

List of notable dry rivers

Kuiseb River (Namibia)

Main article: Kuiseb River

The Kuiseb River in Namibia is a prominent ephemeral river in Africa.^[1][2] It flows from the Khomas highlands west of Windhoek to Walvis Bay, through the Namib Desert. The river only flows above ground during the rare occurrences of heavy rain in its catchment area.^[3]

Swakop River (Namibia)

Main article: Swakop River

The Swakop River is another significant ephemeral river in Namibia.^[4] It is approximately 460 kilometers long, flowing from the eastern slopes of the Khomas Highland, and it only reaches the Atlantic Ocean after heavy rain.^[5][6]

Draa River (Morocco)

Main article: Draa River

The Draa River in Morocco is Morocco's longest river, but its flow is irregular. The river is often dry for much of the year and only flows during the wet season.^[7][8]

See also

• Rivers of Africa

• Climate change in Africa

• Water scarcity in Africa

References

1. CEU. JRC. (2022). Drought in East Africa: August 2022 : GDO analytical report. LU: Publications Office. doi:10.2760/534446.
2. Blanchet, Cécile L.; Osborne, Anne H.; Tjallingii, Rik; Ehrmann, Werner; Friedrich, Tobias; Timmermann, Axel; Brückmann, Warner; Frank, Martin (2021). "Drivers of river reactivation in North Africa during the last glacial cycle". Nature Geoscience. 14 (2): 97–103. doi:10.1038/s41561-020-00671-3. ISSN 1752-0894. S2CID 231746418.
3. Murimi, S. K. (1994). "Falling water-levels in saline lakes of the central Rift Valley of Kenya: The case of Lake Elmenteita". International Journal of Salt Lake Research. 3 (1): 65–74. doi:10.1007/bf01990643. ISSN 1037-0544.
4. Chidumayo, Emmanuel N.; Gumbo, Davison J. (2010). The dry forests and woodlands of Africa: managing for products and services. The earthscan forest library. London: Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-84971-131-9.
5. Owen-Smith, Norman (2021-09-30). Only in Africa: The Ecology of Human Evolution (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108961646.006. ISBN 978-1-108-96164-6. S2CID 240545241.
6. Rameshwaran, Ponnambalam; Bell, Victoria A.; Davies, Helen N.; Kay, Alison L. (2021). "How might climate change affect river flows across West Africa?". Climatic Change. 169 (3–4). doi:10.1007/s10584-021-03256-0. ISSN 0165-0009.
7. Levêque, Christian; Paugy, Didier (2017), Paugy, Didier; Levêque, Christian; Otero, Olga (eds.), "Fish communities in river systems and associated biotopes", The inland water fishes of Africa, IRD Éditions, pp. 349–360, doi:10.4000/books.irdeditions.25241, ISBN 978-2-7099-2400-9, retrieved 2023-07-03
8. Stanzel, Philipp; Kling, Harald; Bauer, Hannes (2018-08-01). "Climate change impact on West African rivers under an ensemble of CORDEX climate projections". Climate Services. 11: 36–48. doi:10.1016/j.cliser.2018.05.003. ISSN 2405-8807.