Update on River Levels along Shabelle River – 21 March 2016

• The months of January and February usually experience the lowest amounts of river flow along the Shabelle River.

• This year however has seen significantly below normal levels along the river sinceMid February.

• This has been necessitated by below normal rains experienced in the upper parts of the Shabelle basin during the previous season which in turn has led to over utilization of the river water for various uses both in Ethiopia and inside Somalia.

• Information from Ethiopian side of the basin indicate low river levels with slight showers in the highlands

• Although some parts of the basin have started to receive some rains the situation is expected to improve in April with the increase of rainfall intensity