Kulfo River

The Kulfo River is a river in southern Ethiopia that rises in the western escarpment of the Main Ethiopian Rift in the Guge mountains.

Kulfo River
Location
CountryEthiopia
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
 • location
Lake Chamo
 • coordinates
5.927°N 37.552°E / 5.927; 37.552
 • elevation
1,109 m (3,638 ft)

It flows through Arba Minch and then through the Nechisar National Park on the isthmus between Lake Chamo and Lake Abaya. It usually drains into Lake Chamo but can also drain into Lake Abaya after heavy rains through a bifurcation located directly southwest of Arba Minch Airport.

The lower reaches of Kulfo River can act as the overflow channel (spillway) for Lake Abaya into Lake Chamo in case of high lake levels. The overflow point is directly below an alluvial fan at an elevation of 1,190 m (at 6.0109°N 37.5854°E / 6.0109; 37.5854). The riverbed then discharges the excess lake water into Lake Chamo.[1]

An important bridge over the river was restored in 2006. The river has dried out considerably in recent years.

Characteristics

It is a braided river, with a catchment area of 300 km³. Near its mouth it is 20 meter wide, with a slope gradient of 10 metre per kilometre. The average diameter of the bed material is 14 mm (gravel).[2]

Sediment transport

The river transports carries annually 53,480 tonnes of bedload and 327,230 tonnes of suspended sediment to Lake Chamo.[2]

Tropical insects

Cytotaxonomic analysis of larval chromosomes from the Kulfo River area has revealed the existence of two newly recognized species of Black flies in the river, Simulium kulfoense and S. soderense; yet unlike other Black flies these species are not carriers of Onchocerca volvulus.[3]

See also

References
  1. Schütt, Brigitta, Thiemann, Stefan, Kulfo River, Southern Ethiopia:Regulator of Lake Level Changes in the Lake Abaya–Chamo Basin Archived 2018-02-07 at the Wayback Machine, Research Institute Water and Environment, Siegen University, Retrieved on June 22, 2008
  2. Hanibal Lemma, and colleagues (2019). "Bedload transport measurements in the Gilgel Abay River, Lake Tana Basin, Ethiopia". Journal of Hydrology. 577: 123968. doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2019.123968. S2CID 199099061.
  3. Hadisa, Mamuye, Wilson, Michael, Cobblaha, Millicent, Boakyea, Daniel, (2008) Cytotaxonomy of Simulium soderense and a redescription of the ‘Kulfo’ form, International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, Cambridge University Press, Retrieved on June 22, 2008


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