PHOON, SHAMSELDIN and VAIRAVAMOORTHY

Introduction The Nile River the longest river in the world has been serving as a source of life to the people living in its basin for centuries. Throughout the course of history, the Nile has supported livelihoods and played a considerable role in enriching diverse cultures within its basin. Hence, the Nile has been the centre of attention of explorers, tourists, researchers and historians for many years. The Nile traverses almost 6,700 kilometres from the remotest head stream – the Ruvyironza River in Burundinorthwards through ten different countries and out to the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile river basin extends over a wide area of more than 3,349,000 sq km, covering latitudes from 4oS to 32oN (Sutcliffe & Parks, 1999). It serves an estimated of 160 million people within the boundaries of its basin and approximately 300 million living within the ten countries dependent on its waters. Lake Victoria is one of the main water sources of the Nile River . The basin of this lake is situated in the east of Africa and is known for its importance as a source of potable water and in supplying water for irrigation and hydropower generation for the surrounding countries. The basin has drawn attention of many researchers due to its significance by nature. At present, the basin is facing considerable challenges such as the increase in the demand for fresh water due to the rapid growth of population and the changes in its flow regime. Other challenges are political instability and poverty of the surrounding nations as well as environmental degradation and frequent natural disasters. The current research works on Lake Victoria basin have focused on the pollution of the Lake Victoria due to human activities (Mwanuzi et al. 2003, Kishe and Machiwa, 2003 etc.), fisheries and biodiversities of lake (Goudswaard et al. 2002, Geheb and Crean, 2003) and wetland management (Kassenga, 1997). However, there are only a few research studies exploring the impacts of climate change on the hydrological regime of Lake Victoria The Nile River is mainly sourced by the Lake Victoria basin catchment. Potable water is vital in this region. Greenhouse gases induced climate change is believed to affect the water resources system leading to alteration in planning and management. Previous studies had been carried out in focus on the pollution, fisheries, wetland of the Lake Victoria basin, while limited research in view of the effects of climate change on hydrological regime. In view of the importance of water in that region, assessing the potential climate change impacts is necessary. Factors such as downscaling of climate scenarios obtain from general circulation models and climate scenarios should be taken into consideration.