Victoria Nile is a section of the White Nile which is about 420 km long.  It drains from the northern end of Lake Victoria at Jinja and flows generally north and west, over Ripon Falls and Owen Falls (both now submerged), through shallow Lake Kyoga, and thence over Kabalega (formerly Murchison) Falls to Lake Albert

Urban growth, industrial and Agricultural developments are likely to have negative impact on the ecology of Victoria Nile. There has been an increase in the population of people in these Districts around Victoria Nile. This has caused the demand for water for domestic and industrial use to rise. The discharge of untreated waste water from communities and industries on the banks of the river has also increased. Untreated wastewater together with soils eroded from bare banks as a result of intensive farming and changing land use, to sustain the growing population, has caused enrichment which is observed by the growth of water hyacinth especially during rainy seasons.

Up to 49,500 tons of nitrogen and 5,700 tons of phosphorous are loaded into Lake Victoria annually. The annual BOD load is estimated at 155,580 tons. Municipal and industrial effluent, and urban run-off into the Lake Victoria was estimated at 9,382 kg/day of BOD, 1,847 kg/day of total Nitrogen and 1,253 kg/day of total phosphorus after purification (Mott Macdonald, LVEMP/NWSC- 2001).