Merowe Dam constructed across the main Nile near the 4th cataract, is the largest dam in Sudan. The main purpose of the dam is power generation; other purposes include agricultural and industrial development of the region, flood mitigation of the downstream areas and improving river navigation.
Accurate reservoir water balance is very important for proper operation of the dam to achieve optimum utilization of the Nile water resources. This will result in strengthening the water management decision-making by assessing and improving the validity of operation scenarios and management strategies.
The objective of this study is to verify the accuracy of water balance components: inflows, evaporation losses,seepage into ground water, and outflow releases to the downstream, and to conduct a reservoir water balance. The study also includes an on-the-job training of the dam’s engineers and developing a User Interface (UI) for the daily operation of the dam.
The methodology of this study consists of collection of historical data, field visits and limited validation measurements of the river discharge.
The collected data includes hydrological, climatic, reservoir characteristics and operation data. Validation measurements of discharge at Elkuro and Elhesai have shown that discharge measurements at both stations agreed with HRC measurement. The study has also shown that the method used in deriving the rating curves at Elkuro and Elhesai is compatible with HRC method. There is no significant difference between (Merowe Dam Electricity Company) MDEC and HRC computed discharges at Elkuro station for daily, 10-days and monthly discharges. The MDEC discharge series at Elkuro was found to be reliable when verified with upstream stations, Tabya and downstream Khushm Elgirba dam. The discharge series computed by HRC for El Hesai station was used for the water balance as verified well with downstream stations: Dongola and
Keddain. The developed User Interface (UI) will facilitate the daily operation of the reservoir as it gives the daily water balance in an automatic way.
The input data for the UI includes water level at Elkuro, upstream and downstream reservoir’s water levels, gates openings with date and time they are effective and the generated power.

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