The Main Nile Sub-basin: this sub-basin includes parts of Sudan and Egypt and includes, the Nile Delta, which is one of the most intensively cultivated lands in the world since millennia. The Main Nile sub-basin is the part of the Nile Basin, which receives least amount of rainfall. However, on the other hand, this is the part of Nile Basin which exhibits most of the consumptive water use. It accounts for approximately 80 percent of the total estimated water abstraction from the Nile system for irrigation. In addition, evaporation from the High Aswan and Merowe dams account for about 13 – 14 x 10⁹m³ of water per year that is approximately 78 percent of all the evaporation from man-made reservoirs basin-wide. With increasing water demands under increased climatic variability, it is crucial to strengthen monitoring of water use patterns and evapo-transpiration in this part of the Nile Basin.

Meteorological monitoring network

There are 26 meteorological stations in Sudan within the Main Nile sub-basin. The distribution of the stations is shown in the map below. 11 stations are reported to measure the full range of meteorological parameters and the rest 7 measure daily rainfall totals only.