Description of the Nakivubo swamp

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the geomorphological, hydrological and floristic features of the Nakivubo swamp area and their effects on the waste water treatment and other functions of this wetland. The Nakivubo swamp in Uganda is one of the many shallow drowned valley swamps that occupy the northern fringes of Lake Victoria which is the second largest freshwater lake in the world: 69,400 km2. Kampala City is a hill and valley complex, with a substantial swamp system connecting to Lake Victoria via the Kansanga, Nakivubo and Wankolokolo swamps. The Inner Murchison Bay is both the source of Kampala’s water supply and the recipient of its waste water. The soils of the Nakivubo swamp area are alluvial and lacustrine sands, silts, and clays overlying granite gneisses. The major surface water drain into Nakivubo swamp is the Nakivubo Channel. The Nakivubo swamp vegetation is co-dominated by two aquatic macrophytes namely Cyperus papyrus L. and Miscanthidium violaceum Robyns.