Location of Sub-Basins of the Nile River System (within South Sudan) Delineated by the Nile Basin Initiative (Bastiaanssen et al - 2014)

Data source: Bastiaanssen, W., Karimi, P., Rebelo, L.-M., Duan, Z., Senay, G., Muthuwatte, L., & et al. (6). (2014). Earth Observation Based Assessment of the Water Production and Water Consumption of Nile Basin Agro-Ecosystems. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267327009_Earth_Observation_Based_Assessment_of_the_Water_Production_and_Water_Consumption_of_Nile_Basin_Agro-Ecosystems ] Remot Sensing, 6(11), 10306-10334. doi:10.3390/rs61110306

South Sudan’s major water resources derive from two main hydrological basins: the Nile Basin and the Rift Valley Basin. A hydrological basin refers to the drainage system in which surface water from precipitation is channelled into rivers and streams and flows downstream towards another water body, such as a larger river, a lake, the sea or ocean, a wetland, or in the case of a closed hydrological basin, into a sink like a salt pan or underground reservoir. Hydrological basins can be comprised of smaller hydrological sub-basins; they are separated from each other by a “drainage divide” or “watershed”.

The Nile basin comprises 15 sub-basins as defined by the Nile Basin Initiative. The map shows five of them which are in South Sudan.