Shebelle River
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 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
Middle Shabele and
Lower Shabele.
In the past, the area of Shebelle River was very affected by
tsetse, but it seems now to be eradicated at least in some parts of the
Shebelle valley.
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.
[J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 260.]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.
[Lulseged Ayalew, "Something that We Need to Know about Our River's Hydropower Potential". Accessed 20 April 2006]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.
*
Map of the Shebelle River basin at Water Resources eAtlas*
Hydropolitics in the Horn of Africa*
"Ethiopia: Rains pound Somali region as death toll rises",
IRIN,
5 May 2005*
"Floods plague Horn of Africa, wash away refugee shelters" - UN News
