Shebelle River

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The Shebelle River (with numerous spelling variations, including Shabele and Shabell, sometimes with Wabe or Webi prepended, Shabeelle in Somalia) begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu it turns sharply southwest, where it follows the coast. Below Mogadishu the river becomes seasonal. Most years the river dries up near the mouth of the Jubba River, while in seasons of heavy rainfall the river actually reaches the Jubba and thus the Indian Ocean.

Its name comes from the Somali language, "Wabi Shabele" meaning "Leopard/Tiger River." According to the Statistical Abstract of Ethiopia for 1967/68, the Shabele River is 1130 kilometers long, extending for 1000 kilometers inside Ethiopia and 130 inside Somalia. The river gives its name to the Somali administrative regions of Shabele River, consisting of Middle Shabele and Lower Shabele.

In the past, the area of Shebelle River was very much affected by diseases transmitted by tsetse flies, but they seems now to be eradicated at least in some parts of the Shebelle valley.

1 Tributaries
2 History
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Tributaries

The Shebelle has a number of tributaries, both seasonal and permanent rivers. They include:

Erer River
Galetti River

[edit] History

The source of the Shebelle River is venerated by both the Arsi Oromo and the Sidamo people. It is surrounded by a sacred enclosure wooded with juniper trees, which as of 1951 was under the protection of a Muslim member of the Arusi.^[1]

In 1989 with the help of Soviet engineers, the Melka Wakena dam was built on the upper reaches of the Shebelle River in the Bale Mountains. Producing 153 megawatts, this dam is Ethiopia’s largest hydroelectric generator.^[2]

In late April 2005, heavy rains generated widespread flooding throughout Somali Region, Ethiopia as well as Somalia, and caused the Shebelle River to burst its banks. In May of that year, the flooding in the Somali Region alone had caused over 100 confirmed deaths and widespread property damage affecting over 100,000 persons. The floods have also destroyed shelters housing 25,000 Somali refugees in Kenya.

[edit] Notes

^ J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 260.
^ Lulseged Ayalew, "Something that We Need to Know about Our River’s Hydropower Potential". Accessed 20 April 2006