Kinyeti River
Encyclopedia
The Kinyeti River flows northward from the Imatong Mountains
Imatong Mountains
The Imatong Mountains are located in the southeast of South Sudan in the state of Eastern Equatoria, and extend into Uganda. Mount Kinyeti is the highest mountain of the range at , and the highest in the whole of South Sudan....

 in the Eastern Equatoria state of South Sudan
South Sudan
South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

, eventually dispersing into the Badigeru swamp
Badigeru Swamp
The Badigeru swamp swamp lies in South Sudan, in the Central Equatoria and Eastern Equatoria states between Terekeka and Lafon....

.

Location

The Imatongs reach out from their highest central block around Mount Kinyeti into a northwestern, western and southwestern chain. The western chain, with peaks rising up to 2500 metres (8,202.1 ft) high, is usually known as the Acholi Mountains. The Kinyeti valley lies between the northwest and west ranges.

The Kinyeti river, and others that drain the northern slopes of the mountains, feed the Badigeru swamps.
These swamps, running in a SSW-NNE direction for 100 kilometres (62.1 mi), are discontinous. They may be as wide as 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) in the rainy season, but average 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) in width.
The swamps in turn may drain westward into the Bahr el Jebel section of the White Nile
White Nile
The White Nile is a river of Africa, one of the two main tributaries of the Nile from Egypt, the other being the Blue Nile. In the strict meaning, "White Nile" refers to the river formed at Lake No at the confluence of the Bahr al Jabal and Bahr el Ghazal rivers...

 or eastward into the Veveno River
Veveno River
The Veveno River is a river in eastern South Sudan. It is a tributary of the Lotilla River, which it joins southwest of Pibor.-External links:*...

.

Colonial era

The British colonial administration began a forestry project in the Kinyeti basin in the 1940s, clearing the natural forest and planting fast-growing softwoods, Cyprus and Pine.
In 1950 the mountains above 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft) were made a forest reserve with no further settlement permitted, but the ban was not enforced during the civil wars.
Forestry brought laborers into the mountains, and they started hillside farming in a wide area around the forest plantations.
In 1949 fingerling trout supplied by the Kenya Game Department were put out in the upper Kinyeti River.
By 1952 they had become established, and the forestry department was planning to stock other streams using trout from the Kinyeti.

Later developments

Shortly before independence, the government announced that the Army's Equatoria Corps was to be transferred to the North, sparking a mutiny on 18 August 1955.
336 northerners died and 75 southerners, of whom 55 drowned in the Kinyeti after they fled in panic from Torit
Torit
-Location:The town is located in Torit County, Eastern Equatoria State, in the southeastern part of South Sudan, close to the International border with the Republic of Uganda. Its location lies approximately , by road, east of Juba, the capital and largest city in that country...

.
Forestry was neglected during the First Sudanese Civil War
First Sudanese Civil War
The First Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1955 to 1972 between the northern part of Sudan and the southern Sudan region that demanded representation and more regional autonomy...

 (1955-1972).
After 1972 an effort was made to rehabilitate the plantations, with a new road built from Torit
Torit
-Location:The town is located in Torit County, Eastern Equatoria State, in the southeastern part of South Sudan, close to the International border with the Republic of Uganda. Its location lies approximately , by road, east of Juba, the capital and largest city in that country...

, a hydro-electric scheme developed to power sawmills and other changes. As of 1984 only the steepest slopes had natural forest and there were plans to clear-cut most of the Kinyeti basin.
A 1981 feasibility study assessed hydroelectric power potential in the Kinyeti River and the local power demand, but there was no follow-up.
The most promising site seemed to be at Katire.
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